Heroes
by Dimitri A
Summary: A series of unforeseen events leads to Virgil learning things about Richie, not all of which are good. But, when they go to the League for help, he finds a few things out about himself as well. Slash, DC Xover, Dark, and yes, hell's frozen over. An update
1. Prelude: Entropy

Heroes

Logic Puzzle: A)WB and DC own. B) I am not WB or DC. A plus B equals C) I don't own.

Notes: Got in trouble, account frozen, reposting. Ignore until I get part six up.

Prelude

Entropy

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Entropy: Theory that all things will eventually fall into chaos. OR_ The irreversible tendency of a system including the universe, toward increasing disorder and inertness._

It was nearly summer time and we were almost at the end of our senior year. We just had to get past a few end of the unit tests, finals, prom, and graduation. We were adults, finally, both eighteen and looking forward to college.

Or…I was looking forward to college. Richie was just looking forward to getting the hell out of his house but I didn't really notice any of that. I was too caught up. Maybe if not for that day I'd still be caught up. Yes, I'm say that this day, this one Bang Baby, changed my entire life.

He called himself Entropy. You could almost see Richie's eyes light up at the prospect of an intelligent opponent and I would have laughed had it not made me so wary. Idiots with power were easier to put down than smart guys with power, because the smart guys not only used their power better, they sought of weaknesses in those they fought.

Namely us.

Entropy, who I would later come to know as Jacob Nash of Eastbumfuck, Nebraska (His words, not mine), had been stealing from the supermarket, of all possible places. We wouldn't have bothered with him except that his powers were literally throwing everything to hell. The security systems just failed the moment he crossed the threshold of the store, from the cameras frying to the alarm shorting out.

It was ridiculous.

More than that the securities guards just couldn't get a proper shot off. They must have emptied six guns at him and every bullet fell to the side, somehow managing to miss him every time. Rich picked up his signal with backpack and naturally we went to investigate. We got there just as he was walking out.

He was about Richie's height, with dirty blond hair. And I don't mean dirty as in dark; I mean dirty as in greasy and unwashed. His eyes were brown-green and wild and, looking back on it, absolutely terrified. I should have known he wasn't the usual the moment I saw him. His jeans were dirty, ripped and holey, and he was wearing about four shirts, starting with a dingy wife beater and ending with a faded plaid jacket. His sneakers were ratty and, like the rest of it, had a few holes here and there.

You'd think after things with 'Frost I'd have learned a little something, right? Maybe to not just attack on sight, but to consider things first? I didn't do it. I probably should have. I was a little more hotheaded when I was that age thought.

He had two bags filled with what I assumed to be cash. I thought it would be easy and basic; another day another bang baby taken down and locked up.

…yeah. Sometimes I'm an idiot.

Static smirked down at the young man staring up at him from the ground. He wasn't particularly big, buff, or noticeably mutated. In fact he was pretty skinny and a touch on the short side.

This was easy. He couldn't see it being anything but. He circled the new bang baby once then called out to him, a little surprised that the usual trash talking and threatening hadn't started. Had this been Ebon or Hotstreak he'd be on his third round of insults.

"So, you got a name or what?" He tilted his head as if he didn't understand the question. "You know, something to call you by? Gear, I think we've got another bright one on our hands."

"Hey, Static." Gear was hovering a few feet away from him a very thoughtful frown on his face. "I don't think this is-"

"Entropy." The 'baby' said finally, blinking slowly. "You can call me entropy."

Whatever Gear had been about to say was lost. "Do you know what entropy is?"

Entropy laughed softly. It was a harsh rough noise, as if he hadn't had a drink in weeks. Then he licked his lips, which were cracked to the point of bleeding. "Yes. Surprised?"

"It's not often you meet a criminal who comes up with something so…unique."

He blinked mildly. "It's not unique. It's just…true."

"That's nice." Virgil said not particularly liking the almost friendly conversation the two were having. "Are we going to fight or discuss science?"

Almost in unison Gear and Entropy shrugged. Then the blond on the ground tilted his head to the side again, long greasy locks sliding into place.

"You could just let me go."

"Yeah, that'll happen." Static rolled his eyes but still held back. He wasn't really comfortable with the idea of attacking someone who wasn't…posing a threat. Entropy rocked on his heels for a moment then sighed and dropped the bags.

"Keep 'em." And with that he turned and headed off down the street, as if he hadn't just fried an entire supermarket only to leave his prize in the middle of the parking lot. Static wasn't sure if he should follow him or what. Gear, ever the curious one, headed for the bags he'd left.

He was a bang baby and he had caused a lot of damage but, as far as Static knew, no one was hurt and he hadn't really taken anything. Still it was better to take him in so he could take a whiff of the new cure that had been whipped up. He felt kind of bad but still he flexed his power a bit and caused a few 'spare' pieces of metal to form a cage around Entropy. The bars crackled with electricity, least he try to use whatever his power was to escape.

As long as it wasn't water based Static knew it would hold.

The blond blinked, clearly startled. Then, with a sad sort of smile he reached out and touched the metal. There was a rumble and then the cage quite literally collapsed.

"Oh wow." Gear murmured excitedly, momentarily distracted. "So cool."

Static disagreed just a little bit. He gathered his power again, deciding the direct approach was best. He was about to wrap Entropy with just simple electric bands when he felt something…wrong about his energy. He was familiar with the crackling electrical field that surrounded him, giving everyone who dared to touch him a small shock of static electricity no matter how he tried to control it, and it was…almost comforting in it's familiarity.

But this was wrong. It was almost like the time with the sunspots, only it felt…wrong inside. Something inside of him twisted and it hurt and he couldn't help but double over in pain.

"Static?" Gear's slightly dazed voice then a muttered curse. He watched Gear throw a zap cap and fully expected whatever was happening to stop the moment Entropy was safely wrapped up. It didn't happen. The zap cap just sat at his feet, innocent and unassuming.

Gear looked dumbstruck. Static was now on his knees and he could feel his field flickering in and out and he knew the minute it just went out he was headed for the ground. Hard.

Entropy stooped and picked up the apparently faulty 'cap. He tossed it from hand to hand for a moment then, eyes still holding a deep sort of sadness, threw it. The coils extended, binding Gear and sending him pitching over.

Static felt his panic rise to full force because rather suddenly he was falling. The energy was pulsing out of him but instead of staying out he could felt his body reaching out and drawing it back in, like some kind of sick recharge loop, and it _hurt_. It was almost tearing at him, burning him from the inside.

Shit. Was he being electrocuted? Was that even possible?

He was pretty sure he should have hit the ground but arms wrapped around him. He blinked up at the Bang Baby who looked panicked. He wanted to push away but found that he couldn't. Murky brown eyes were wide and staring, lips moving but only soft noises coming out. He imagined Gear was puzzling the whole thing out in his head, which meant that he'd be fine eventually.

If he didn't pass out first. The hot feeling inside of him was worse; like he literally had a fire burning away at his insides and that it was reaching out with tiny-clawed fingers and tearing at him, desperate to escape into the open air.

He realized suddenly that he wasn't just sucking in his own energy. It was too much to just be his own. He could feel himself building up, too much all at once, a serious overload. Too…much. He felt as if he was going to explode…just…keep taking it in until the pressure built and he exploded into tiny little Virgil pieces all over the pavement.

His father was going to be so pissed off about this whole dying thing. The world was more white than anything, starting at the inside and working it's way outwards, consuming his entire line of sight. It was bright and hazy all at once. Little black dots, wreathed in bright colors, danced in front of his eyes, taunting him.

…Weird. Was this dying?

"Stop it!" The voice was distant and kind of desperate. And it wasn't Gear.

And then it stopped and he was gasping for air. The world went kind of gray for a moment, tilting wildly and all he could see was Gear's face, a mixture of relief and surprise, followed by panic once again. And then there was nothing.

Yep. That's it.

Now you're sitting back and going "But Static, how could you, one of the world's greatest, most handsome and intelligent heroes and role models for today's youth have been so effected by one grimy kid in front of a supermarket, who apparently handed you yours ass without breaking a sweat?"

I'm getting to that. So there. Shut up and listen and no more stupid questions.

And he didn't hand me my ass. I was just…taken off guard. And his power is really fucking weird. I could take him today, believe that. I mean…I was 18. That was a decade ago. Things have changed.

…whatever.

Chapter one on Tuesday. It's saved at school and I have a four day weekend…sorry in advance. Then again an update a week is about my usual speed, so never mind.


	2. One: Probability

Heroes

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Chapter One  
Probability  
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Virgil awoke in less pain than he would have thought. He had a headache and annoying lights kept doing ballet in front of his eyes, but other than that he was fine. He could hear someone shuffling about and, figuring it was Richie, sat up.

It wasn't.

When he sat up the person turned and he looked into the slightly distressed face of the Bang Baby from earlier that day. His body tensed at the sight and it took a serious show of will power to not lash out. Well…will power combined with the desire to not have a repeat of before.

He may not have been as smart as Rich was, but he knew when it was time for a new plan. Entropy watched him for a moment, murky eyes wide and blinking. Virgil stared back even though his hand groped for something to-

"You're awake." Richie's voice, as bright and cheerful as ever, floated into the room a moment before his head poked in. He smiled slightly. "Hey bro'."

Virgil just blinked, mind temporarily shutting down on him. He was on a couch, a very ratty hole ridden couch that smelled kind of familiar. In fact, looking around, all of this was familiar. They were in the gas station. His coat was gone along with his mask and gloves. Richie was standing there, in his usual jeans and sweatshirt.

And there was a bang baby standing there, hands behind his back as he rocked back and forth on his heels, looking nervous.

This was not normal.

"What's going on?"

Richie blinked slowly then went pink. "Right. Jacob do you remember that water pump I mentioned before; around back?" A shaky nod. "Great. There's a bowl on the table and I need some water-"

"Okay." Entropy- _Jacob-_ nodded and all but ran off, sliding past Richie who offered him a slight smile. Once he was gone the blond ambled over and flopped onto the floor in front of the couch.

"So."

"Richie what's going on? He knows who we are! You brought him to HQ." Virgil realized he sounded a bit like his sister when she felt he'd done something stupid. (Also known as: All of the time). He shuddered. Imitating Sharon was not a good thing. "Are you possessed again?"

"No." Richie looked a little sullen at that suggestion. "I just…I think he needs help."

"And, if you hadn't shown him who we were, we could have taken him to get the cure and then he could have all the help he needed." He frowned. "We can't really do that now though, unless we want our faces all over the morning paper."

Richie shook his head. "He isn't going to tell anyone."

"And why isn't he?"

"Because he doesn't want to be found anymore than we do." Richie stood up and moved away from him, seemingly almost…restless and uncomfortable. "Why does it always have to be a fight Virgil?"

"…Because he tried to rob a supermarket?"

"For food. He took bread, cheese, and fruit, not money. He didn't hurt anyone and…shit, V, look at him." He was walking around…no, he was pacing. To say he looked stressed out would have been an understatement.

Virgil just stared at the blond, wondering where he was trying to go with this. Then he frowned, letting his mind pull back an image of Entropy. Greasy stringy hair, layers of clothing… Another image came, unbidden, of people huddled in an abandoned building, huddled for warmth and wearing ratty coats.

He groaned. Figured. He just had to take on what had to be the only other homeless meta-human in Dakota. That was just the way his luck liked to run. He slumped over onto the couch.

"Okay, so we won't fight. We should still take him in; his life would probably be easier if he was normal."

"Normal is highly overrated." Richie muttered then shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't want the cure V. If we can help him control it, why should he have to give it up? It's the only thing keeping him alive; it's a part of him. You should understand that."

Guilt was a terrible thing. A terrible mind crushing, chest squeezing pain that made him want to gasp for air. Besides, he'd never been able to deny Richie anything the other teen actually wanted. He wasn't sure what that was exactly, but when Richie wanted something he would try his hardest to make it happen. They were best friends after all.

That was just how things worked.

"How do you even know he doesn't want the cure?"

Richie opened his mouth then stopped and coughed. "Well I don't."

Virgil wished for something to throw at the blond. "You don't know? All of this and you don't even know yet? Rich-"

"We'll just ask him." Richie said cheerfully, all traces of frustration and anger gone in a heartbeat. Virgil blinked at the sudden shift in attitude but decided to ignore it. Richie had always been just this side of easily amused.

His emotions were obvious sometimes and other times he was completely unreadable.

Virgil nodded his agreement then closed his eyes. This was a little out of character for Richie. Sure he was selfless and liked to help other people, but he had never been big on the idea of bringing other people into their team. He was still a little weird around She-bang when she was around to help them out.

Virgil just liked to chalk it up to Richie's amazingly anti-social and quirky personality and leave it at that. It wasn't like it was a big deal; Virgil was much the same. They (both) owned the Original Star Trek on DVD for the love of God; you just couldn't be an overly social person if you geek tendencies extended that far.

There was the shuffling of feet so Virgil cracked an eye open again. Richie's new friend was back and holding a bowl of water per Richie's request. His blond- not that Richie was his or anything like that- took the bowl and brought it over to him.

"You got a cut on your hand when you fell, I think you cut it on your disk."

Virgil just stared up at him for a moment. He'd cut his hand on his disk? Really? Why didn't he feel any pain? He looked down and saw that indeed there was a long, but shallow, gash across the palm of his hand. Blood was crusting around it and over it. He flexed his fingers, breaking the crust. The wound began to ooze blood slowly and he heard Richie's annoyed sigh.

"What did you do that for?"

"I can't feel it."

"My fault." Entropy's voice was very soft, almost shy. "The numbness. When your power turned back against you it overloaded your nervous system a little bit. You won't be able to feel anything for a while yet, but it'll fade."

"Good to know." Virgil's voice held more bite than he really meant for it to hold, but could he be blamed? He'd been fried by his own energy. Lame. "Is that what you do? Turn people's powers against them?"

"No." He shuffled his feet on the floor again. "That was just the most logical conclusion for you. Your body is sensitive to electricity and it acts like a battery, taking it in and storing it for later use and the best way to stop you was to overload you by taking the energy you put out along with the energy around you and force it into you, sending your body into an emergency shut down sort of thing in order to stop the absorption and deal with what you'd already taken in."

All of this was said with his eyes on the ground, foot toeing the concert nervously while he seemed to be folding in on himself. He seemed so much smaller and more afraid than before. Virgil was acutely aware of how his clothes hung off of him, so baggy they made Richie's look form fitting, and how grimy he actually was.

But the words that left his mouth, though they were a little simplistic and halting (apparently Jacob had a bit of a stutter) were intelligent and spoke of someone who understood what they'd done very well. Thankfully science was Virgil's thing and he followed the explanation fairly well, though he could barely hear it thanks to the way Jacob was talking to the ground. He was either a master of deception or he was genuinely meek and nervous.

If the way he was shifting from foot to foot was any indication it was the latter.

"So you turned my power against me."

"Yes, but that's not what I do." He glanced up for a moment. "I…alter things. Probability…possibilities…I…it's hard to explain. I make the worst possible scenario happen just be willing it."

"Can you control it?" Because really, that was just a little bit worrisome as far as abilities went. He'd hate to be around if something like that went out of control. He'd already felt it focused and that was bad enough. Jacob shrugged.

"Sometimes. Sometimes it gets…beyond me. I didn't mean to attack you like that but to stop you from attacking me my mind just…worked."

Richie crouched in front of him and began to wipe away the blood and clean out the wound. "From what I can understand he 'sees' things like I see them; numbers, angles, possibilities, facts. Only he sees the weakness in everything instantly and knows just the right button to push to send everything crashing out of control. And then, unlike me, he can push it."

Virgil looked down at Richie as he spoke then looked back up at Entropy in alarm. Per usual Richie had successfully broken it down in an easy to understand way. Easier than Jacob's halting and almost bewildered response at least. Not to rag on Jacob of course, Virgil couldn't for the life of him understand how his body had changed to the point that he was a natural battery but the electricity he was holding didn't affect his basic chemistry.

It didn't really make a whole lot of sense to him but Richie had a few theories that made some kind of sense. He was just good at the sort of thing.

Probably because he was a super genius.

"Oh. That's…interesting." If utterly terrifying could be interesting. He couldn't imagine what it was like to just…know things like Richie did, let alone always know just how to destroy everything around him at a glance.

Jacob's lips quirked into a sardonic smile. "Not really. It's all fun and games until you realize that one little word about the neighbor's affair could have the end result of your entire apartment complex burning to the ground with everyone still inside."

"Yes…that would be not fun." Virgil agreed slowly. "You know there is a new cure to the bang gases. You have to go in to get it, since some former bang babies sued the city for forcing them to accept the cure but-"

"No." Jacob shook his head and took a step back as fear crept into his eyes. "I…no."

Virgil opened his mouth to speak but ended up yelping at a fierce pinch to his thigh. He glared at Richie who glared right back over his glasses before slapping a bandage on his hand. That was going to sting later on, Virgil just knew it.

"You don't have to. It was just a suggestion."

"Oh. Um…okay." He had his arms wrapped around himself and once again was looking at the ground nervously. "What're you going to do with me then?"

"Well…" Richie looked a little dumbfounded at that. "We aren't sure just yet."

"We could take him to my dad." Virgil suggested. Might as well. They were already exposed and his pops would probably know what to do in this situation. Or at least who to call.

He was graced with a bright smile from Richie. His stomach clenched strangely and he swallowed thickly before looking away and coughing.

It hadn't been that good an idea.


	3. Two: A Little Peculiar

Heroes

Chapter Two

A little peculiar

Once Jacob was in the shower and Virgil had called his father and tried hard to be…subtle about the situation and get the man to come home sooner, he and Richie had retreated to his room. He left the door open so he could keep an eye the bathroom door. He couldn't be blamed for wanting to be careful when an admitted thief was using his shower.

He was just being careful.

Richie sat at his desk and opened the pre-Calc book he'd left when backpack's alarm had gone off, then picked up his pencil. Virgil could only watch as he wrote out the math problems, pausing every so often to actually think. Most of Richie's work was done on automatic but one the rare occasion he decided to actually think Virgil knew it. He rolled his eyes heavenward and got this glazed look on his face. It never lasted long, as the answers to everything laid within his brain. Richie had smiled ruefully once and said it was just a matter of figuring out how to extract it.

Well that and writing it don. Richie had, on more than on occasion, lost marks in math for not showing the work. He was often accused of using a calculator and cheating, as no one could get all of the answers mentally, and 'I'm a human super computer' just wasn't an option.

Still the sight of Richie just going about business as usual was surprising. And frustrating.

"What the hell are you doing?"

The blond blinked at him like he was the one with the problem. "Homework."

Virgil stated, wondering if Richie had lost it or what. "Are you serious? How can you just sit there and…do homework? You've just…I mean…in my shower!"

"Well." Richie shut his book while turning a bright shade of red. His eyes stayed trained on the desk. "Sorry Virg. I was just-"

"Acting really funky? I've noticed." Virgil frowned down at this friend, severely tempted to reach out and shake the smaller teen until he started acting the Richie he knew. He didn't though, settling for shaking his head and shuffling over to his closet. "If I didn't know better I'd think someone had taken your body over again bro'. You've been so weird lately."

(He was looking through his clothes so intently that he noticed the way Richie's already pale skin went ashen and the clenching of his fist. Sadly he'd never been what one would consider overly perceptive, especially in areas concerning the blond.)

But Virgil was rather occupied at the moment. He'd hit a growth spurt towards the end of his sophomore year and it had continued halfway into his junior. He'd ended up a few centimeters shy of an even six feet. Richie on the other hand was cursed to stay about 5'6 or 5. Entropy was a little bit shorter than Richie was, so…

"You don't have anything that will fit him." Richie said, looking up to watch him for the first time. He tilted his head off to the side. "I have some clothes here don't I?"

Virgil rolled his eyes. Duh. Of course Richie had stuff here, he spent more time at Virgil's house than he did at his own. "Yeah. Slipped my mind."

"Obviously." Richie's smile was rueful.

Virgil pointedly ignored the blond and, after a moment of blank staring as he tried to recall where Sharon liked to put Richie's things when she went on a cleaning spree, walked over to his dresser. A pair of blue jeans, a black wife beater, and a baggy black hoodie found their way into his arms before he realized there was a slight problem.

"Hey, Rich-"

"He can just keep the jeans. I have others."

Virgil nodded then dumped the stuff onto the bed. "I'm going to call for pizza. Hawaiian like always?"

"Yeah." Richie said almost distractedly. "I'll bring him down when he's dressed and…stuff. How long do you think it's going to take your dad to get here?"

"He should beat the pizza." Virgil smiled wryly. "I hope. I'm kind of tapped out at the moment."

Richie laughed and shook his head. "That's terrible man. Maybe you should…I don't know, get a job?"

Virgil blinked at him blankly. Richie laughed again and, confident that his best friend was now…less strange, he left the room.

He hesitated by the bathroom door, listening intently for any…overly suspicious sounds. First thing he heard was, of course, the running of the shower and then, underneath that what sounded like quiet sobs. He stared at the door for a moment, wondering if he should…do something.

In the end he decided he wouldn't take kindly to someone bursting in on him at a moment like that, so he continued down the hallway. He couldn't imagine what would have moved Jacob to tears but he wasn't exactly an expert on Homeless Bang Babies and what may or may not set them off.

He flopped down onto the couch and turned on the TV, hoping to rid himself of the sudden…uneasy feeling creeping up on him. He was just in time to catch Anita Mann talking about them and their little 'misadventure' at the Supermarket.

Joy.

"-Static's power quickly proved ineffective according to bystanders, against this new Bang Baby. Gear too seemed useless as his weapon backfired against him. After Static was rendered unconscious he and Gear were both taken by the meta-human. Some say this is just the first sign of things to come. As mutants get more powerful after the second bang the few heroes Dakota has, such as Static and Gear, become obsolete and that a cure should be released regardless of consequences."

Virgil turned off the TV with a growl. Ineffective? Useless? _Obsolete_? He'd like to see them take on a probability altering meta-human and then come and tell him how obsolete and useless they were becoming. If they had been more prepared for Entropy things would have gone differently. The second bang had, at the very least, made it so he could hold and handle more power than before. He'd taken in a lot more than he had the first around and he kind of expected to sprout a tail or second head any day now.

Richie…well, the blond had actually become more withdrawn since the second bang. Sometimes he was afraid Richie was hiding something from him but he honestly couldn't imagine what or why. Richie could be turning into a giant pus monster and Virgil wouldn't care.

…Well. He'd care because that'd be pretty nasty but it wasn't like they wouldn't still be friends because of it. Richie had to know that by now. And yet

"Virgil!" His father's near frantic voice cut through his thoughts and he turned to stare at the man, who was looking just a touch on the haggard side. "You're okay?"

"Um. Yeah." He blinked. "What's wrong with you?"

"I heard on the radio on the way over that Static and Gear had been taken and after that strange call about Static cling I didn't know what to think."

__

Note to Self: Work on subtly more

Virgil really hated the media. "No worries Pops, we're fine. We need a little help with something and I figured you'd be the best guy to call."

"Oh. Well I'd be glad to help you boys out. What's the problem?" Now assured that he and Richie were fine the older man seemed a considerable amount more at ease.

Virgil opened his mouth to respond but footsteps above his head made him look up. Two sets, headed in the general direction of the stairs. A moment later Richie, with Jacob right behind him, came down the steps and halted at the landing. Virgil blinked at the newly clean and slightly damn Jacob. He looked different when he was clean.

His hair was so light it was more white than anything and it curled along his jawbone wetly. His skin was pale, but had been scrubbed to a slightly pink color. He was holding up Richie's pants awkwardly and, considering how they hung off of Richie it was a true testament to how thin he must have been. He looked around with wide nervous eyes and seemed like he might just bolt any minute.

Virgil briefly entertained an image of him trying to run only to trip over the bottom of Richie's pants and land in a heap on the floor. It would have been funny if Jacob wasn't small enough that one good fall might break some bones.

His dad regarded Jacob silently for a moment, as if studying him to find something out. Jacob squirmed and almost shrank behind Richie. Then his father offered a smile that was nothing short of warm and east.

"Well. I'm Virgil's father, Mr. Hawkins. I didn't realize there would be anyone but Richie over. Sometimes I don't think he has any other friends."

Virgil rolled his eyes. "Pops."

Jacob stared at his father and Virgil swore he could see the wheels turning in his head. Finally he straightened up a little bit but rocked back on his heels some. A nervous reaction it seemed.

"Hello Sir."

His father made a noise of mock surprise. "Virgil! I didn't know you had any actual polite friends. Mr. Hawkins is fine young man, though the manners are appreciated."

"I'm not polite?" Richie asked with a frown.

"Don't you live here?"

"Point taken."

Virgil smiled at Richie's rueful expression then nodded to the blond behind him. "Pops this is Jacob. He's the one who abducted us. Only…you know, not. Obviously."

His father looked over at him then back at Jacob. Then back at him again. "I see. I assume you're going to be explaining."

The doorbell rang and Virgil smiled widely. "Over pizza."

With a resigned sigh his father turned to answer the door. "Times like this I almost miss your sisters cooking."

Virgil stared at his father's back. "But…we aren't even hurt. Why would you want to kill Jacob like that?"

000000000000000

Virgil watched with thinly veiled interest as Jacob sat on the floor, pushing his slice of pizza around on his plate with a look of semi-thoughtfulness. He wondered what was going on behind those murky eyes, though why he was so interested he didn't know.

Maybe because it seemed strange he'd eaten his first slice at a speed that had made even Richie blink, finished off a second at a more subdued pace and had then taken to vacant staring. Virgil kind of thought that he could have eaten more.

He had to be hungry right? He'd been stealing food after all.

His father was watching Jacob as well but his expression was less curious and more…actually Virgil didn't know. It was shuttered, closed off. Finally he looked over at Richie.

"Richie do you think you and Jacob could get my briefcase and the box on the table in the kitchen?"

"Uh. Sure. I guess." Richie picked up his plate then looked at Jacob. "You don't mind right?"

"No." Jacob was up already and looking a little awkward. He followed Richie closely and an image of a puppy came Virgil's mind. He banished it quickly and arched an eyebrow at his father who was now watching him very intently.

Virgil wasn't sure what that look meant. It was close to thoughtful but also seemed to border on disappointed and sad.

"What?"

"I'm just trying to figure out how to resolve this. We can't turn him in to child services of course. They'll force the cure on him and he may expose you. We can't just forget about him either."

Even if they could do that without suffering through years of guilt, Richie would never go for it. Once he got an idea in his head he held to it steadfastly. Virgil sighed. "Com'n, you have to have some kind of idea. That's why we came to you."

"Obviously." His father offered him a small smile then shrugged. "I suppose he could just…stay here. Unless he's a run away and has family that is looking for him, in which case it'd be best to try and contact them."

"Dead." Jacob's voice was a little on the raspy side. He was standing by the kitchen door holding his father's briefcase. "My mother is dead. Or at least she was dying when I left…it's been a year so… My father didn't take well be my…abnormalities. I didn't run away."

He was white-knuckling the briefcase like it was some kind of lifeline he couldn't afford to let go of least he topple over the edge of a cliff. Once again Virgil wondered what was going on in his head. He wasn't sure what it meant but Jacob was starting to remind him faintly of Richie.

"Tell me her name and I'll find out." Richie's voice came from behind Jacob and so he missed the completely bewildered look on the small teen's face. "Could you…move? Please? Heavy box."

Jacob blushed but stood off to the side. "Sorry. I didn't mean…"

"No big." The box was set down on the table before the blond flopped onto the floor next to Virgil. "So, he's going to stay here?"

"I-I don't want to im-impose." The stutter, which had mysteriously vanished since the gas station, was back. "I'm fine on my own, m-mostly."

"I'm sure you." His father's tone was very soft and soothing. "Still your power isn't totally under control and I'm sure Richie and Virgil can help you with that. It's temporary of course, just until things are under control. And after Richie looks up your mother it'd be pointless if we couldn't find you."

A blank look. Then a shaky nod. "I…um. okay. For a little while maybe."

"Of course." A small smile. Then a nod towards the briefcase. "May I?" Jacob was by his side and holding it out before Virgil could blink. His father took it then gestured that he should sit. "Would you mind telling me a little bit about you? I can't just have you living in my home without knowing something."

"Makes sense." A soft murmur then a nod. "I'm nineteen. From Nebraska, moved to Dakota right before the first bang. West Dakota High, didn't graduate. Dad kicked me out last May, couldn't afford to raise a freak anymore."

Virgil didn't miss Richie's small wince as Jacob's words. He felt bad too; he couldn't even begin to imagine his father saying something like that to him. Still the strange look on the blond's face seemed…to say something Virgil couldn't pick up. Azure eyes seemed to echo with a kind of sadness and while this all ranked high on Virgil's depressing shit scale…he felt he had missed the boat.

Why the hell was everyone so damn sad? What was he missing?

His father didn't comment but instead wrote in a book he'd extracted from his briefcase.

"Thank you Jacob. I think I've got an idea to explain this." His father didn't look up as he spoke. "I was thinking of starting a mentor program with the Women and Children's shelter downtown, to encourage the women and teens to go back to or stay in school. I was going to make you boys volunteer over the summer anyway so you'll just help Jacob instead."

"That's great." Richie brightened almost instantly as he'd never been upset to begin with. The abrupt change made Virgil's head spin just a little bit. Richie just couldn't seem to make up his mind emotion wise. It was headache inducing. "Maybe you can go back to school."

Jacob's lips formed a ghost of a smile. "I guess."

"Do you think we can use your computer? I want to start looking for information of Jacob's mom."

"Be my guest. Just…don't try to modify anything this time please."

"Okay." Richie grabbed Jacob's arm and began to drag him towards the office his father kept. Virgil started to stand up as well, not sure what to make of all of this.

He'd finally gotten rid of Sharon.

"Son, sit down please."

He stopped and turned slowly before sitting down nest to his father warily. Had he done something wrong? God he hoped now. He so didn't want to be grounded right now. End of senior year…that'd just be…blasphemy.

"Are you okay? I'm sure you can't be too fond of Richie putting you in such a tough position."

He shrugged uneasily. When had talking to his father become complex? Sometime around puberty he was pretty sure. Why he didn't know. His dad was pretty much as cool and accepting as they could possible come.

"It's…weird. Not like him."

"No it isn't." His father nodded his agreement. "I think…Richie is just going through some tough changes but you shouldn't let that bother you. He'll come around and talk to you about it eventually, I sure."

Virgil was silent. How his dad always knew what he was trying to say even when he didn't know what he wanted to say was something he'd never figure out.

"I don't mind that he wants to help someone. It's what we do after all but…he just…latched onto him so quickly. After he fried my system, like it was nothing. And he's moody and cranky most of the time, won't even let me touch him, and then the rest of the time he's so happy it's frightening and it can change with no warning. One word or look and it's like he's a different person." Virgil realized faintly that he was literally pouring out his guts and that it kind of felt good to get it all off his chest. "It's like he's not even Richie anymore, and now there's this guy and Richie wants to help him so badly I swear I can almost feel it and it doesn't make sense to me. And then it's like you and he are both seeing something I can't see and it's kind of annoying."

"Hmm."

That was it. Hmm. It was a response worthy of the Bat himself. He groaned and slumped over onto his side, putting a hand over his eyes. Hmm. Fuck.

"Don't pout Virgil."

"'M not _pouting_." He was sulking in a very manly manner.

His father sighed and reached over to haul him back into an upright position. "Sometimes I swear you're eight, not eighteen. I was just thinking. I still think you should just wait Richie out for the time being. And Jacob…he has a look about him I know very well, in his eyes." His father was watching him with that intense look again. He squirmed. Creepy. "Do you remember Mrs. Leary's pit bull? How she used to smack it with that stick to make it tough but just made it withdrawn and meek instead?"

"Yeah?" He did remember it. Didn't see the connection.

"It's like that; suspicious and expecting to be hit and betrayed at any moment. So many kids who come into the Center off the street look like that."

Something in Virgil's mind clicked and he imagined he could see the little light bulb suddenly turning on above his head. The connection was made and he frowned.

"You think he was-"

"I think you should be nice to him and try to keep any bad…vibes to yourself otherwise you'll risk scaring him off and both Richie and I will be very upset with you." His tone indicated he'd be more than upset. "He'll be sensitive to dark moods and feelings, jumpy, nervous, and distrustful. Just try to keep him comfortable. You're a nice person Virg, I know you can manage it."

He scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah I can. But-"

"Everything else will sort itself out. They always do." That said his focus shifted elsewhere. "I'll have to arrange a doctors visit for Jacob. He looks like he hasn't eaten in ages and I want to make sure he's okay beyond that. I don't think Sharon will mind giving up her old bedroom and I think we can use some of the money in the Mentor budget to get him a few things and… You're still here.

Virgil held up a hand defensively. "Sorry Pops, didn't know I was so unwanted." His father smiled slightly and waved him off. He shook his head then headed off to see if Richie needed help. Which he wouldn't but he didn't want to start him homework just yet.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Mr. Hawkins watched his son walk off and sat back with a sigh, considering the teen's words about Richie. He considered the blond like a second son and was worried that something may actually be wrong with him beyond what he'd shared.

Richie had confessed a month ago that he might have been gay. Actually it had been more like a mini-breakdown on Richie's part and he'd gotten a surprising view of how…insecure and worried the blond really was. He didn't think Richie's hoarse voice telling him that he didn't want to be gay, and explaining in a very logical manner how it made no sense to be homosexual or be attracted to the same sex, would ever truly fade from his mind.

His heart had ached for the teen and the most he'd could do was try to calm the blond down and tell him that he wasn't doing anything wrong or unnatural (difficult to do when Richie had a million arguments to the contrary.) He wasn't sure it'd done any good because he was even more silent and withdrawn.

It was natural of course for someone who came up in an overly strict household where such things were frowned upon to have issues coming to terms with themselves and he figured if he just waited it out eventually Richie would accept.

Now he wondered if that had been a bad idea. Maybe, with all of the experience he had with troubled teens, he couldn't see what was really going on? The Forest for the Trees and all that.


	4. Three: You're Tearing Down

Heroes

Notes: I modified this chapter a bit, to make it more…what I want it to be.

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Chapter Three  
You're Tearing Down  
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Jacob blinked blurry eyed at the two of them. He was still about half-asleep and slightly mystified. Virgil found he couldn't blame him. Then he reached up and pushed his hair from his face. "You know the Justice League?"

Virgil nodded. "Yes."

"And you're just going to…call them up, ask to borrow their computer, and look up my mother?" He looked…well, skeptical was too nice a word. He looked like he thought they had just lost their minds and he wanted to know where the most accessible exit was.

Richie smiled crookedly. "Not…exactly, no. V has some weird mentor program going on with Lantern, which is weird because Lantern swears he hates everyone-" Virgil rolled his eyes and Richie's smile just grew. "And Batman lets me poke around in his lab as long as I promise to keep him updated and if I should happen to use the computer while I'm up there then so be it."

The search Richie had run two days ago had been a bust. Even with more information from Jacob it was like she hadn't existed at all. Not that she had died or had left the country, but that she simply hadn't existed. And, considering all of the things that were connected to her it didn't make sense that she'd just…vanished or hadn't been born or whatever.

"Uh huh." He blinked again. "That makes even more sense. Do you two think I could go back to sleep now or do you want to regale me with tales of Power Rangers?"

Virgil sighed. "You know you're really sarcastic for a guy who kept trying to run away from me two days ago."

"You were intimidating two days ago. Then I discovered you have Loony Tune sheets. That's not intimidating it's…cute."

Virgil gaped, wondering how he'd seen those. He hadn't used them in years, he wasn't completely lacking in maturity after all, but he'd been…too nostalgic to just throw them away. They were supposed to be in a box in the basement.

Richie was staring at him now. "You still have those bro'? That's…um." He trailed off and shook his head, apparently not having the words to accurately describe what he was thinking. Virgil glared and shoved him lightly.

"I don't use them. I just don't want to throw away perfectly good sheets."

"Sure man."

"I'm serious!"

"I didn't say anything." Richie insisted, holding up his hands defensively.

While they were talking (bickering) Jacob hauled himself up off of the couch and shuffled out. The sound of a door slamming made them both turn. Richie arched an eyebrow then smiled slightly.

"He doesn't believe us."

"I got that feeling as well." He shrugged. "That whole atom shifting thing they do should convince him pretty fast."

"True. I think I could make something-"

"No."

"But V-"

"No. You will not be scrambling my atoms. Stop thinking about it." Richie was frowning at him almost pitifully. He swallowed and turned around. This was stupid. His friend pouting at him wasn't crumbling his resolve already. "I mean it. I'm not letting you play with my atoms."

Richie sighed. "Fine. Maybe it I ask Jacob nicely."

Virgil had to squash the urge to offer himself. He didn't want Richie playing around with him on a molecular level; it just didn't…sit right in his head. But, at that same time, he didn't think he wanted Richie trying whatever he was plotting out on Jacob. This was purely out of concern for the other blond of course; it wasn't like he cared who Richie chose for his little experiments or anything. Him, Jacob…he could call up Frieda for all he cared.

It wasn't like he was…jealous or something like that. Jealous over atom scrambling…no. That would be stupid. It was just concern for the person being scrambled.

If he kept repeating that over and over in his head he would eventually believe it.

Hopefully.

Richie had him…really stressed out lately. If he wasn't wondering at Richie's mood swings and alternate bursts of endless energy and total lack of energy he was trying to figure out what the hell was going on in his own head. He confused himself almost as much as Richie confused him lately.

Jacob came back eventually, gnawing on a piece of toast distractedly. He plopped onto the floor in front of Richie and tilted his head off to the side. Virgil followed his gaze and saw he was watching the reporter on the TV, which was currently on mute, intently.

"Can you two read lips?" He was obviously talking about the fact it was on mute. Virgil just arched an eyebrow.

"No. Can you?"

"No. But it's a useful skill I believe everyone should have." Jacob smiled faintly when Richie coughed, clearly holding back laughter. Virgil just blinked.

Okay… He reached over for the remote and turned up the volume in time to catch the end of whatever the anchor was saying.

"-Mrs. Raevyn Brown and her daughter Rayne had been missing for almost two weeks now. Her parents and husband have received no ransom demand, though police say all three have been cleared. In other news the governor has declined to comment on the alleged sex tapes circulating about her daughter."

Richie laughed. "That's a great way to follow up a missing person story."

Virgil was inclined to agree. He glanced at his watch, noting the time. Then he looked over at the other two intending to tell to say they should get going but the words died on his lips. Richie was watching Jacob. And it wasn't like he was just…watching him. He was watching Jacob the way Virgil liked to tell himself he watched Daisy (but never Richie.), with a look of interest. …no, not interest, that wasn't quite the right way to describe it. Seemed too innocent.

It was…longing? Want? …Interest in more than a platonic way.

A glance at Jacob showed he was watching the news through lowered lashes while chewing on his bottom lip, head tilted off to the side.

"We have to get going." He wondered about the suddenly gruffness of his voice. Richie jumped, glanced at him, and then blushed like someone who'd just been caught doing something wrong. He looked away and stood up. Jacob groaned but stood up as well.

Virgil scribbled a note to his father letting them know where they were going and dropped it on the coffee table before heading out. It was the middle of May but it was abnormally warm. People were blaming it on global warming and melting glaciers.

He was pretty sure that, considering the way the Earth's luck tended to suck, there was some kind of evil and sinister force behind it. There was always some kind of evil and sinister force behind everything these days. At least it seemed that way sometimes.

He was pretty sure homework and finals for seniors were the product of a really sick and diseased mind. He could help but fear that sometime over the summer he'd get a letter saying he'd failed some final and would have to come back and re-do his senior year.

He shuddered at the prospect then glanced over his shoulder.

Richie and Jacob were following him down the street but seemed more interested in talking to each other than anything else. He had to admit he didn't understand the allure. It wasn't like Richie knew Jacob or anything. And what they did know pointed to Jacob being a sarcastic, bitter, and slightly nasty individual. How was the appealing?

Wait…was he saying Richie was gay? Or at least thinking it very intently

No. He'd know if Richie was gay. He would have said something. They didn't have any secrets from each other; they'd been best friends for a decade. He could read the blond like a book; Richie couldn't hide anything even if he wanted to.

Though, if he was going to be honest with himself hadn't he just been thinking about how it seemed like he didn't really get Richie anymore? Could this be part of it?

Before he could follow that train of thought any further a hand was on his arm and pulling him back.

0000000000000000000

It all played out beautifully in his mind. The real world faded into whiteness and meaningless noise and possibilities played out on the back of his eye lids and it all worked together so seamlessly, like a piece of classic music. It all made sense, it all flowed and connected and he could see even the tiniest element of it all.

It was amazing in its intricacy. He saw a thousand different things play out and let his mind latch onto the ones that made the most sense.

__

The woman behind the wheel didn't know the steering column was cracked when she left. The car was fighting her all the way to work, but she was late and couldn't afford to pull over and figure out what was wrong. If her daughter hadn't touched her with jelly covered hands she would have left on time and would have been at work already.

She leaned to fiddle with the radio. "Piece of shit car.'

A girl jumped roped in front of her house, alone but waiting for her older sister to join her. She'd be out in a moment. She didn't jump rope much anymore but an offer from her too-cool teenaged sister was simply too good to pass up.

Virgil kept walking, thoughts occupied with something other than where he was going. He paused at the fire hydrant and turned, looking to see if they were still…still what? Didn't matter. The little things never mattered.

The woman wanted to turn but it didn't quite work. She went at a strange angle, heading for the little girl. She shrieked and jerked it as hard as she could. Her car shuddered its protest but obeyed. The girl didn't even notice, jumping still. The car crossed the street fast and jumped the curb hard. It hit body and then hydrant.

Blood, pooling on pavement and flowing between cracks and into the gutter. Little girl shrieking, falling down, traumatized. Never be right again, years in a mental facility. Irrational fear of cars. Runs inside, crashes into sister on way out, tumble down stairs.

Woman screaming…screaming. She'd never forgive herself. The guilt would crush her, her husband would leave and take their daughter. She'd have nightmares for ever. Overdose on sleeping pills. People running and calling for help and it was far too late for that. Richie stood, frozen in time, pale as a sheet. Lose of sanity. Secrets, terrible secrets people pointing and whispering the voice getting closer and smothering.

Black marble headstone.

Hospitals. A lifetime of hospitals and straps and people watching him all the time.

Alone. Afraid to go outside, afraid to see anything. White rooms. Simple white rooms. Never peace, never sleep, never never never.

Comfort.

In theory anyway.

0000000000000000000

He tripped over something (air) and all but tumbled into Jacob who yelped. Unable to hold Virgil's weight Jacob went tumbling to the ground, pulling Virgil with him. A few people on the street turned to look, apparently confused.

Virgil blinked down at Jacob who groaned and pushed at his shoulders. What sounded like Richie's laughter came from above.

"What the hell did you-?"

A scream and a crash made him trail off. For a long moment all he could hear was the sound of water hitting the ground. Then Jacob shoved him again, face contorted in pain. Right. Crushing the stick thin midget was a bad thing.

He jumped up and turned to see a car had jumped the curb and slammed into a fire hydrant. The hydrant had busted and water was spraying into the air in an arc then pattering against the pavement almost gently. It had jumped a few paces from where Virgil had been yanked from. He turned back and looked down at Jacob who appeared to be trying to draw in breath.

"You…how…"

"Holy fuck dude, you're like twice my fuck weight." Was the only response he got. Richie had stopped laughing and reached down to help Jacob up. The other blond allowed himself to be pulled up to his feet then raked his fingers through his hair.

The driver of the car tumbled out, looking horrified but not injured. Virgil had to say he didn't care since he could have been run over. People came rushing over, talking and gaping and…all of that good stuff that people did at the sight of an accident. Mostly staring.

People always had to stare at a wreck.

"How did you do that?" Richie asked with a touch of awe in his voice.

"I saw it. The steering is shot; I could see the driver fighting with it down the road. Probability of you getting hit was very high." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "I don't always destroy things. Why keep a power that did nothing but evil?"

Virgil couldn't deny the sense in that. Apparently neither could Richie because he just blinked. Then turned and continued down the road, carefully avoiding the scene. Jacob smiled at him wryly.

"Why do you look so surprised?"

"You just…car."

He laughed. "Yeah man, I'm not going to let a car hit you. We're cool aren't we?"

"I…yes. We are." Oh and hello guilt. It's nice to meet you. Come to kick my ass have you? Can't say that I blame you. I'm a bad bad person. "Cool. Yes."

"How long do you think you'll be speaking in monosyllables?" Jacob grabbed his arm and began pulling him along to catch up with Richie.

"…don'no."

He wondered if this was what being in shock was like.


	5. Four: Black Hole Sun

Heroes

Notes: This chapter is a bit different. Justice League tends to bring out the snarky me, where as Static Shock brings out the angst happy me and…well, this went more towards the sarcastic and silly. Consider it comic respite.

Warning: GL (John)/(Wally) Flash slashiness. Remember? Told you this story attached to a larger series, way back in the forward, that contained GL/Flash? Right. Just checking.

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Chapter Four

Black Hole Sun

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"I think," Jacob muttered swaying on his feet some. "That I'm going to be sick."

Virgil turned and eyed him carefully. He did look paler than he had a few moments ago. Richie moved over towards him and rested a hand on his shoulder. Jacob smiled weakly.

"Don't."

Green Lantern was standing to the side of the transport platform, watching them. That didn't surprise him or anything, as he was getting better at not staring like an idiot when he encountered members of the League, but it was surprising that Flash wasn't anywhere nearby. Where Lantern went Flash was usually quick to follow.

And he meant that in a non-joking manner.

Virgil had to admit he'd wondered, more than once, if there was more between the two than just your usual friendship. Something about the way Lantern seemed just slightly less sarcastic and biting when Flash was with him, and the fact that Flash could maintain coherent anything for more than a few moments only when Lantern was around…

He didn't wonder about it because he cared, because he didn't. Not really anyway. Lantern had been his hero since he was younger, he couldn't have cared less who he slept with, and Flash was just…a really nice guy and fun to be around. He doubted he could have a problem with either, ever.

He did want to know what would attract them to each other though. They seemed very different to him.

"Go easy. It was his first time, it make anyone a little queasy."

Lantern smiled at him mildly then gestured that they should follow. "Superman is in mothering hen mode again and wants you to go down to the infirmary to make sure no one got hurt."

Virgil glanced over his shoulder at Richie to see if the idea of Superman as a mother hen was strange to anyone besides him. Richie looked just slightly bemused then shook his head. Jacob was too busy looking around in uncontained awe to care much apparently. Virgil couldn't blame him. The New and Improved Watchtower was…well, it was damn impressive.

And big. It'd taken Richie a good five minutes to memorize the blueprints and almost an hour before he could think of anything to improve it. Batman had seemed almost flattered that it'd taken so long for the young genius to find any flaws. Or…as flattered as Batman could seem about anything.

"How do you know what happened?"

"We're the Justice League, we know everything." Lantern said cryptically. Virgil blinked. O-kay then… "How else do you think we stop every disaster that crops up?"

"Somehow I doubt a potential car accident in Dakota counts as a disaster." Richie commented.

"Would you rather I said we keep tabs on every hero under the age of twenty-five at all hours of the day?"

Virgil swallowed at the very implications of that. Because he'd like to think that certain things (certain perfectly natural things for a young man his age, thanks) weren't being viewed by anyone else. Ever. Apparently Richie shared the sentiment.

"A-all hours?" Lantern chuckled at the slightly panicked tone to Richie's voice. Virgil swallowed and, feeling a change in topic was needed, asked the thing that'd been on his mind since he'd seen Lantern.

"Where's Flash?"

The older man actually turned and arched an eyebrow at him. "Flash?"

"Yeah, you know, about this tall, runs and talks really fast, eats more than Richie, really hyper? Usually goes wherever you go?"

"Believe it or not I'm not Flash's keeper. He's old enough to not have to answer to me."

"Sooo… You know where he is but don't want to give me the satisfaction of admitting to knowing?" Virgil knew he was pushing his luck just slightly. Green Lantern wasn't know for his social skills, exactly. According to Flash he pretty much hated everyone on the principal of belonging to the human race, because discrimination was wrong, and most people probably would have shut up before asking questions.

But not Virgil. He was more-or-less almost sure that Lantern actually liked him. Why else put up with him so often? Still he heard Richie muttering something about getting his Playstation when he died.

"Don't be a brat." before turning stopping in front of the door that Virgil knew led to the infirmary. It slid open after a moment and the older man walked in, leaving them to trail after him.

The aforementioned League member was in the room and flashed them all a smile when they walked in. His appearance gave everyone except Lantern a moment's pause. He was wearing a pair of jeans and…well, nothing else. A t-shirt was draped over a nearby chair, and a pair of shoes was on the floor. For a moment Virgil thought they'd caught him mid-change.

Or maybe not. His upper body was covered in small little fang marks, some of which were still bleeding, and he was sitting cross-legged on an examination table. Oh, and he was really…freckly. Really. He didn't look nearly old enough to be a member of the League, let alone one of the Seven.

He was also kind of pale.

Not that Virgil was looking or anything. …okay maybe a little bit. But he'd never seen Flash not…as Flash before. Well…maybe minus the mask. The secret identity thing had kind of gone out of the window after Gear accidentally hacked the Tower computers.

He still insisted he thought it was a computer game, not a security system. Virgil still wasn't sure what to make of that actually.

"What happened to you?" Richie asked, breaking the silence finally. The redhead's smile vanished almost instantly and his eyes narrowed in something resembling annoying. Lantern, who'd walked off and was now returning with a tube of something and a rag, smirked widely.

"Wally was attacked by rabbits."

Virgil put a hand over his mouth to hold his laughter in. Richie blinked slowly then nodded as if that actually made some kind of sense, before coughing. Jacob however arched an eyebrow.

"Rabbits?"

"Radioactive mutant vampire rabbits." Wally muttered, grabbing the tube from Lantern who continued to smirk. "Thousands of them. It's not like they were your usual…pet store variety or anything. They were evil rabbits. And they glowed."

Lantern rolled his eyes. "Pink. They glowed pink."

"It was still glowing! The color doesn't matter John; the point is they glowed. And were evil. And radioactive. What if my flesh melts?"

"I doubt your flesh is going to melt now. It's been an hour."

"The effects of exposure to radioactive materials or chemicals or…rabbits isn't usually immediate. It would take time for it to seep into his blood stream and spread throughout his body." Richie said almost absently, as if he didn't fully realize he was speaking out loud. Lantern fixed an irritated look on him and the blond had the decency to look contrite.

"See John? I'm going to mutate into something terrible and you're going to feel guilty." Wally muttered. "What the fuck is a tube of disinfectant going to do?"

"You're giving me a headache."

"So? This is your fault, with your stupid 'let's go save the little English town from the killer rabbits.' Who the hell cares about the English anyway? I wanted to get pizza. Why can't we do anything normal?"

Lantern rubbed at the bridge of his nose and Virgil could almost feel the frustration rolling off of him. "Wally I swear-"

"Children." J'onn's faintly amused voice cut off whatever Lantern was about to say. "You're frightening the medical staff again."

Wally's brow furrowed. "Do you just call us 'children'?"

"Yes." Batman swept into the room after the Martian. He headed right over for a computer console while J'onn glanced Wally over. "Virgil, Richie, Jacob;" He didn't look up as he spoke to them but Virgil doubted he needed to. "I trust everyone is okay."

"Not a scratch."

"How do you know my-" Jacob started but Richie just shook his head as if to tell him not to bother. He fell silent but still looked a little bewildered, torn between watching J'onn (which made sense. Wasn't everyday you encountered an alien) Batman, and Lantern and Wally.

"I didn't think so. Superman likes to overreact. Wally, you aren't going to mutate. The computer scan didn't show abnormal amounts of anything except caffeine." Batman glanced at him over his shoulder.

Wally nodded then reached over for his shirt then winced and sat back up. Lantern rolled his eyes and grabbed the shirt for him. He pulled it on then hopped of the table.

"What happened to the rabbits anyway?"

"John dropped a very large boulder on them." J'onn said with a strange half-smile.

Wally smiled sardonically. "My hero."

"I try." John deadpanned before inclining his head towards Virgil. "I have something I want you to test out for me."

"What?" Virgil had enough common sense to be wary. He'd rushed headlong into one of Lantern's 'tests' before and had been sore for weeks.

"New training drones for Young Justice. I've already got Nightwing to agree to test them from a non-powered standpoint but when I tried to talk Wally into it he went off on another conspiracy theory rant."

"Robots. Evil. Not happening." Wally gestured vaguely. "I don't know why you can't ask Bart. He's actually in Young Justice."

"He bothers me."

"Everyone bothers you."

"Then why do you keep suggesting it?" John's smile was faintly amused. "So, Virgil, how about it?"

Virgil decided not to ask. It just seemed…for the best. "Sure, I guess."

"Can I watch?" Virgil didn't need to look at Richie to know he had that crazy gleam in his eye he got at the prospect of modifying things. Lantern smiled and nodded.

"I was just about to ask. You can keep Wally and Adnai company on the observation deck."

Virgil headed after Lantern, who was already walking towards the door. It didn't occur to him to ask what Jacob was going to be doing throughout all of this until a good five minutes later and by then it seemed a little too late.

There was that guilt thing again.

000000000000

Richie watched Virgil follow Lantern then turned to Wally. "Who's Adnai?"

"Nightwing's boyfriend." Wally shrugged, either ignoring or missing Richie's bewildered look. "Now if you two would follow me we can go watch Static and Wing get slaughtered by John's robots."

"No." Batman said. Richie jumped. He had, somehow, forgotten Batman was there. How that was possible he didn't know, but he had. "I want to speak to Jacob. I'll send him down in a few minutes."

"…Right." Wally shook his head then nodded towards Richie. "Just us then. Well and Blair but he doesn't really count."

Richie frowned but walked out with Wally, offering a half-smile to Jacob who smiled back as if to say he'd be fine. He shoved his hands into his pockets and allowed himself to be lead through the winding halls of the 'Tower, though he could find his own way if he were so motivated.

"What you said, about Nightwing…"

"Did I say he was a crazy, suicidal prick out loud?" Wally sounded sheepish. "I could have sworn that was just in my head."

"Erhm. No. But I'll be sure to remember that." Richie smiled faintly. He did really like Wally. There was something very…disarming about him. Like that older brother you never really wanted but put up with anyway. And really he wasn't that much older than he and Virgil were, just under six years if the information he's stumbled across was right. "No, the thing about Adnai."

"Oh. That. Does that bother you?" He quirked an eyebrow in amusement. "Because if so this conversation is about to take a very nasty turn if for no other reason than I knew 'Wing before he was even 'Wing and am actually pretty fond of him."

"No! I mean…no. Just…you don't care?"

"Other than the comic irony of it all, not particularly. Adnai's too…umm…what's a nice word for wuss? Well, whatever, he's that. And Nightwing is crazy in a suicidal way, as opposed to John's occasional homicidal tendencies, which are actually endearing in strange and often disturbing way, and I've known him since I was…well, younger and…" Wally paused leaving Richie to try and decipher that jumble of words. Obviously pausing for breath wasn't something he needed to do.

"It occurs to me you have to be the only person around here who doesn't know about me and John."

"John and I." Richie muttered, feeling a blush working its way up his cheeks. "And no I didn't know."

That happened to him a lot. Give him a car engine and he'd have it apart, reconstructed, and making toast in a few minutes but people…people just weren't his thing.

He couldn't even understand himself most days.

"It's not a big deal. At least I don't think it is. Somebody probably thinks it is but…well. It isn't. I don't think. And people are weird anyway." He started worrying his bottom lip between his teeth almost nervously. Richie wasn't sure if he was confused, again, or amused.

He settled on amused.

"Your mind is a vastly confusing place isn't it?"

Wally nodded gravely. "You have no idea." He laughed quietly and shrugged. "Seriously. It's not. Unless you care for some strange reason."

Richie shook his head. "No, I don't. Forget about it."

"Sure. But, and please ignore how after-school special this sounds please, I'm around if you want to talk." Another small shrug. "Why not, you know? If John wants to play mentor to Virgil you might as well keep me from getting bored and doing something stupid."

"Um. Okay." Richie blinked then frowned, picking up a stray though about Jacob. "Do you know why Batman wanted Jacob to stay?"

"He finds your buddy 'intriguing'. Something about you trying to hack city death records and him finding something you missed."

"You weren't listening?" Why didn't it surprise him that Batman knew he'd been trying to get into Dakota's death records? One day he was really going to find out how much Batman, and the League, really knew about them. He, unlike Virgil, had things he truly wanted to keep hidden.

"Why bother when I can just ask John later?" The way Wally said it implied that it made perfect sense to him. "That's what he's for. Among…other things."

"What are you…oh. I didn't need to hear that." Wally's answering smile was borderline perverse.

Next chapter we'll find out what Batman's up to with Jacob. Nothing weird, so no worries. And also some strange subtle hints of things to come.

Raving: Yeah, Virgil's having issues adapting to Jacob being around. The fact Richie seems kind of taken with him probably…isn't helping much. And angst is fun.

Pita: No time soon. They barely know each other. To be honest I have a few plotlines threading through this story so…it's hard to say when certain things are going to take place.

Leev: Ah, yes, the method to Jacob's madness…heh. And Virgil…well. His confusion confused everyone else. Jacob hasn't a clue that Virgil doesn't 'like' him. …not that V doesn't like him. He's just jealous. Not that he knows he's jealous…

Cherre: Egypt? Try the moon… Maybe, if he's lucky. The worst part has to be that he isn't 'dense' or 'clueless' overall, he's just that way when it comes to Richie. I think if he were stupid it'd be less sad…

tp96: Well, I offer nothing if not a plot driven tale. Heh.

Mechante: Jacob is, when he isn't being morbid, a pretty sweet guy. He was a well meaning, naïve, preppy before all of this actually…so yes, he can do adorable. And…don't even get me started on Virgil. There is nothing worse than wanting to smack a character partway through a story. And I do feel very special.


	6. Five: Stop the World From Making Sense

Heroes

Notes: Adnai an Angel of Pleasure in mythology. It's not a take off of 'Aidan' on purpose but I suppose it was probably some subconscious thing I did. We're just going to call him Blair until I can look up something else because otherwise it's weird.

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Chapter Five

Stop the World From Making Sense

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Richie and Wally walked in the general direction of the various training facilities then turned into a room Richie didn't recall ever being in before. Inside was a man who seemed about Wally's age, wearing jeans and a tank top. He was sitting cross-legged on a table and looked like he was asleep. Except for that whole sitting up thing.

Wally walked over and waved a hand in his face. The man didn't so much as flinch.

"Blair, I know you can hear me. The time for quiet reflection is over."

"I have fangs and I'm not afraid to use them."

"I thought you were a vegetarian." Wally didn't look at all intimidated.

"I still have a taste for human flesh. You should ask 'Wing what all those 'love bites' are really from." The man hadn't yet opened his eyes but his tongue darted out and licked his lips almost invitingly.

And if Richie hadn't suddenly been just slightly terrified he probably would have been blushing. …He may have been blushing anyway.

"…Sometimes you frighten me Blair. Seriously." Wally shook his head then walked over to the computer terminal at the front of the small room. Other than the table and terminal there were four chairs, all seated in front of terminal. The wall it was built into was glass and Richie could see one of the training areas though it.

Lantern, Virgil, and a man Richie assumed was Nightwing stood inside, apparently talking about something. Two large silvery white humanoid robots stood still and at attention a few paces away, but none of the men were paying them much mind. Wally flicked a few switches and two panels opened in the terminal, a kind of panel emerging from each.

"So John wants you two, since you know 'Wing and Static best, to observe how this goes. See how the robots react to each individually and give John lots of positive feedback. Or…you know. Something like that." Wally rolled his eyes heavenward. "This whole training thing has never really been my deal. Being in the Titans with 'Wing kind of killed it. He's a goddamn slave driver. I wouldn't be shocked if he had a whip."

Blair snorted in what could only be called an inappropriate manner.

Richie nodded, trying desperately to not get anything beyond PG-13 rated imaged in his head. It wasn't working. "I think I get it."

"Oh good. Ready Blair?"

Blair sighed and opened his eyes. He smiled at Richie toothily (He wasn't kidding about having fangs) then hopped down and walked over to Wally. He leaned against the redhead who just blinked at him mildly before pushing him towards one of the chairs.

"Stop trying to molest me. There are children present."

"That's the only thing stopping you?" He smirked wryly then sat down. "For the record I'm still morally against this."

Wally rolled his eyes then motioned for Richie to sit. "Blair is against violence of all kinds. Unless it's needed. Or he's really bored. Or drunk. Or in a bad mood."

"Once. You get in one bar fight and you're branded for life." He put a hand on the panel in front of him and one of the drones jerked as if it'd been shocked. Lantern turned slightly then nodded. He said something to Static and Nightwing then left the room.

A few moments later he walked into the room they were in and pulled it closed behind him. He took the last chair, which happened to be between Wally and Richie, and then arched an eyebrow towards his…whatever Wally was to him.

Not that Richie didn't have a fairly good idea at this point but he didn't know what John called Wally. Boyfriend just seemed so…not Green Lantern or Flash.

Wally smiled faintly before leaning forward and inclining his head towards Richie. "You aren't gong to have a problem watching Virgil get trounced will you?"

Richie smirked. "What makes you think that's going to happen? He'll probably just fry it and be done in a few seconds."

"These things are built so that nothing short of an electric pulse strong enough to power Vegas should take it out."

It was funny but Richie couldn't call that overkill. Not logically anyway. Virgil's power was unpredictable at the best of times; there were times when he couldn't light a light bulb but other times he could power the Watchtower without breaking a sweat.

Richie wasn't sure how to explain it exactly, except the possibility of further mutation, either due to time or the second bang. The thought had been lingering in the back of his mind for sometime now but he'd never really sat down and thought about it long enough to figure something out.

And now still wasn't the best time for that.

Sometimes Richie had a hard time keeping it all in order and maintaining control of his thoughts. They liked to go bouncing off the wall sometimes, totally without his say so and it'd be annoying except…well, sometimes he needed it, the chaos.

Without it he wondered if he wasn't every bit as cold and factual as a machine. Better to be out of control and human then in control and not better than a computer following commands and unable to go off on the occasional tangent.

So he told himself anyway. Sometimes he wasn't too sure.

He leaned forward in his seat to watch Virgil eyeing the machine with interest. Richie was willing to admit he still had lingering Robot issues, which oddly enough didn't extend to Backpack, but sometimes he wasn't sure if it was more the mental…violation of having someone (_something_) just decide they had full reign over your most intimate thoughts or the fact that Brainiac hadn't been…unfamiliar. He'd reminded Richie of himself.

Not all the time of course, but when he was presented with an intense challenge or something that was begging to brought to life. In those moments there was only the task at hand, thoughts and awareness of the world around him became…nothing.

He lost himself.

It happened more and more lately and sometimes he couldn't help but be afraid of what he may have been becoming. After all, Brainiac had wanted him for a reason and hadn't had any intention of killing him, from what Richie had seen anyway, and it didn't make sense unless the machine had found…perhaps, an equal in him? Something worth saving after completely destroying a world, something he had never seen before with all of the people he had wiped out.

Richie really didn't want to think of himself as similar or equal to Brainiac but he wasn't sure what he could do about it. His mind was suspiciously blank when it came to these sort of problems. Maybe because he didn't do emotion well.

He felt like if he kept letting it slip away he'd become a heartless computer in a living shell and barely even that. Richie found he was able to go without those things that were supposed to make you…go. He wanted to blame that on further mutation as well but wasn't sure if the really could.

His brain would just…click on one morning and go. Information would filter in and out at impressive speeds, inventions and modifications and formulas and blueprints would dance on the back of his eyelids every time he shut his eyes, and his own thoughts would clog his head until he was practically choking on them and wanted to rip open his skull and just…pull them out.

And wasn't that healthy?

Kind of like now. He didn't think he'd actually slept for a week, not that he'd tell anyone about any of that, but the point still stood. He knew that, fundamentally, humans needed to sleep otherwise the body and the mind wouldn't function properly, but he had to admit he'd never really had that problem.

Besides, who really needed sleep anyway?

He would have laughed if he didn't think that would draw unwanted attention. He wasn't even fooling himself at this point. He didn't know what to do about it though so all he could do was accept and let things just…go.

Really there wasn't anything he could do except hope he didn't crash until the weekend. When the period of scary alertness was over a period of…nothing followed. He thought nothing, did nothing, said nothing and was essentially nothing.

He had actually gone so far as to sleep through an entire week back in December without really realizing it. Other than the occasional trip to the bathroom he hadn't done anything to mark the passage of time and so…he'd just slept. He hadn't had the energy to do anything else.

Hadn't even eaten. He remembered being vaguely hungry, in the strange foggy kind of way he used to recall his dreams. (Richie didn't dream anymore. Not the way he'd used to anyway.) But every time he'd tried to grasp the thought it'd faded away with 'the kitchen is so far away'. Not that it was overly hard to go for days without eating around his house, but self-imposed starvation was a new one. Thankfully it'd been holiday break and Virgil had been visiting relatives so it hadn't been a big deal and had gone completely unnoticed.

He was easily overlooked.

Feeling things…seemed to be becoming more and more beyond him as time went on. He wasn't sure which period he preferred really; when he was alert there was…more, but he often felt like it wasn't him who was doing those things and when he was nothing there were only dim fuzzy feelings, but he never doubted that it was him feeling the.

This was part of the reason he'd insisted Virgil help Jacob; when he'd first looked at the older teen he'd felt a strange sort of spark, that he knew without a doubt _he_ had felt because the only time he felt something similar was when…

He smiled wryly.

When he was close to Virgil. That was a feeling that nothing seemed able to damper or imitate.

He couldn't really begin to explain it, but something about Jacob made him…something. He didn't think this was just lust or a crush, because he didn't think he wanted to involved with Jacob like that but…it was feeling and when things like that were rushing through your fingers like so much water he couldn't possibly be blamed for wanting to explore it more. It was weird how he enjoyed every stomach twisting, blushing causing, and heart clenching moment just because it was something.

It meant he wasn't a machine. He wasn't losing himself. Not yet anyway. And maybe that was it. Jacob was like him, slowly shutting down himself to emotions and things like that and Richie wanted to help him as much as he wanted to help himself.

Though he wanted to help him in other ways as well.

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He put his head on the desk, trying to force back the headache starting to form behind his eyes. They were becoming more and more frequent these days. Like his brain was filled to the brim but still wanted to take more stuff in and was pressing up against the walls of his skull in an attempt to do it. He knew his brain was doing nothing of the sort, unless he'd hit his head and it was swelling but he was almost positive that was the sort of thing he'd notice.

And, since he hadn't suffered any nosebleeds, dizzy spells, or unexplained blackouts, he was almost positive that his brain wasn't swelling. He just…had some kind of headache. Genius overload, for lack of a better term. He remembered something similar right before he realized he was a human supercomputer, mild headaches out of nowhere that faded as soon as they came.

Maybe he was mutating again. Wouldn't that be nice? He knew some of the people who'd been caught in the second bang (few and far between though they seemed to be) had turned into things more powerful than the original bang-babies. He didn't understand why it had taken this long for it start to effect him but he supposed it was possible if it was…latent, maybe? The mutating properties of the gas may have lain dormant, waiting for the right time to strike his DNA and send it through another change.

It'd done something similar the first time around, why not again? Though, to be fair, it hadn't exactly been latent. He'd just been exposed to a small amount and it wasn't like it'd just hit him all at once…it'd been a gradual change, punctuated by headaches and bursts of almost crazy invention ideas to help Virgil out.

He couldn't have begun to do half of the things he'd done for Static before he became Gear if his mind wasn't already in the process of changing. It'd just been without his knowledge at first. Still, he'd taken in a lot all at once…it just wasn't showing immediate effects. Maybe the way it'd been set off the second time changed how it affected people.

That would also explain why people like Jacob were showing up now, instead of then. This did cause a slight problem though. Richie had always been a little concerned about possible water contamination but when nothing had happened he'd just dismissed it but now…well.

Plus there were Hotstreak and Ebon who'd turned into a two-headed freak of nature. Honestly, fire and shadows melding together? Weird, since fire chased shadows away.

Then again there had been more to Ebon than just casual shadows of course. Like his shadow discs…that wasn't your typical shadow based ability, or else every time you walked into a shadow you'd risk being sucked to another place. Not that it mattered. Neither had been seen since the explosion and he sincerely hoped it would remain that.

There was the creak of a door and the shuffling of feet. Must have been Jacob. He cracked open an eye and watched the blond walk past him, nothing but a white towel around his hips. He looked around for a moment, eyes locking on Richie briefly, then over to the bed.

He shrugged, as if reaching a decision. Richie watched in confusion for a moment then flushed when he finally realized what was going on. Facts and numbers took him nano-seconds; people and their actions and motivations however always seemed to be just beyond his comprehension.

Maybe that was the price he paid. To be this smart, to hold this much, you had to be untouchable. Something more than human; as cold and unfeeling as a computer was and as oblivious to human behavior as one as well.

Jacob was going to change in front of him, obviously thinking him asleep or…something like that. Where was Virgil when you needed him! Wait…downstairs. Of course. He was never around when his ability to barge in on awkward moments would actually be appreciated.

Damn him. Sure, bust in when he's trying to come out to his father, but heaven forbid he be saved from turning into a voyeur. Then again, maybe that was it. To hear his mother tell it heaven didn't care much for people like him.

Religion had been a grand source of confusion to him long before all of this. He'd never really gotten it but the fact his parents were Catholic and thought a guy in a dress had a direct link to God may have had something to do with it.

It was just a theory anyway.

Knowing everything and having most of his reality firmly rooted in science and numbers hadn't really rocked his world too much. After all, imaginary numbers existed and there were things even the greatest of scientist couldn't come to explain, so who was to say supernatural things couldn't exist? But that was kind of depressing in that if his parents were right all the good he did was going to be canceled out by something he couldn't control and wasn't really very happy about.

Because, really, what purpose did gay people serve? It was stupid. In a purely technical sense they didn't add to the betterment of the species, as far as reproduction went, and the sex did seem just a touch on the unnatural side. Were they defective? A misbalance in hormones perhaps? It was another one of those things he couldn't wrap his brain around.

'But that doesn't stop you from watching the guy you just met naked does it? Pervert' _Richie smiled ruefully at the voice in his head. Ah, the fine line between genius and insanity. He liked to think he walked it very well. _

And he wasn't watching in a perverse sort of way, thank you very much, he was watching in an analytical research sort of way. He could count most of Jacob's ribs and noted that some of them looked…out of place. Was that possible? He had a long, thin path of scar tissue, raised and discolored, that went from around his navel to…to…underneath his towel.

His mouth went dry.

But that doesn't stop you from watching the guy you just met naked does it? Pervert' 

'Oh yeah. Purely scientific.'

Jacob turned, so his back was to him and all of the gears in his head (no pun intended) ground to a very spectacular halt. His headache got worse.

Long thin scars criss-crossed Jacob's back; they dark and stark against the paleness of his skin. They danced across his bones, which shifted under his skin in a way that almost made Richie want to throw up. They must have cut deep into him originally to last as long as they had, because they were obviously old. They didn't have the right coloration of fresh marks.

How did he know? Well.

Black cotton obscured his view, finally, followed by the sweatshirt.

Jacob stood still for a minute, head bowed, then sat down on Virgil's bed heavily. His fingers tugged at the hole beginning to wear through the knee of the jeans almost absently while his eyes looked straight ahead, blank of all emotion.

He couldn't take it anymore. He sat up, faking a loud yawn and cracking his back. (That part was real. Lying on a desk was never smart.) He heard Jacob's quiet exhalation of breath and turned to address him. The other blond blinked then reached up to scrub at his eyes, which were red.

"You okay?"

'About as okay as you are brain-boy. It's always the smart ones who ask the stupidest questions.'

He smiled almost sheepishly. "Don't mind me. It's just been a long time since I felt clean. Wow. That sounded really depressing. I should…not talk anymore."

Richie smiled wryly. "I won't tell anyone. We should head downstairs, V is watching out for the pizza and he's been known to eat an entire pie on his own."

"Oh. Okay."

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That had weirded Richie out more than a little bit and he felt confident in blaming Virgil for the entire occurrence because why the hell couldn't he have left the clothes in the bathroom like a normal person. Still he wondered about the marks on Jacob's back. Wondered if they'd come from his father.

Richie's father was a bastard and tended to drift between annoying and useless, depending on the day and what group he was griping about, but he'd never lay a hand on Richie. There was a fine line between telling him he was a future-less fuckup and actually hitting him.

Richie knew he was sick because he wondered if being hit would mean he felt something, because the words had ceased to mean anything a long time ago.

Jacob hadn't spoken much after that. He'd answered Mr. Hawkins questions quickly and had given just the important facts regarding his mother when Richie had been trying to find out what had happened to her. He hadn't found anything about her in the obituaries, which was promising.

Then again he hadn't really found much of anything. Maybe because Rachel Nash didn't seem to exist at all. Jacob had been as bewildered as he was.

Richie's thoughts couldn't get much further than that because a bright white purple light made him blink then squint and turn away from the mock-battle he'd pretty much zoned out on. He knew Virgil's energy pulse when he saw it and could only assume he'd gotten annoyed with the machine and was trying to short it out.

If what Lantern said was true it wasn't happening. Even at his most powerful powering Las Vegas was just slightly beyond him. And by slightly Richie meant 'far far'.

Virgil was standing there, glaring at the machine as if it had offended him personally. An aura of pale purple electricity was crackling. The robot took a shaky step towards him before going completely still. For a moment nothing moved. (Richie noted that Nightwing had already disabled his robot and was just sitting off to the side and watching.)

Then the machine collapsed, completely…dead. Virgil's energy field, rather than fading, grew in intensity until Richie literally had to look away to shield his eyes. The lights flickered, dimmed, and then went out completely, plunging them into total blackness, save the glow emanating from his best friend.

Richie thought frantically, trying to figure out what was going on. And, the moment the question flitted through his head, he had his answer. Virgil couldn't overload it so he'd absorbed the energy inside of it and without energy it couldn't run. Now he was starting to absorb the Watch Tower's energy. He must not have been able to stop.

It was all very simple and logical in Richie's head and that soothed his worry. Simple.

Except for the getting Virgil to stop part.

"Lantern!"

There was a soft green glow coming from near where Richie thought the door was. "Yeah kid?"

Richie started to speak while his eyes slid, unconsciously, back to Virgil. He found himself forgetting what he'd been about to say in a rare moment of complete bewilderment.

Virgil had been completely…engulfed by bright purple, which jumped and twisted around him, and all that Richie could see what…well, his skeleton. It was like…the light was coming from inside and everything except the bones had been blotted out by the energy.

Richie mind took that opportunity to supply him with a simple statement.

'Wow'.

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Ha! I finally got it out. This chapter kicked my ass and I quite literally put everything else on hold until I got it out. And…now that it's out and I can return to the rest of my stories.

Thanks to everyone who re-reviewed and…well, I'll work on the summery.


	7. Six: Crutch

Heroes

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Chapter Six

Crutch

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Jacob Nash liked to think that, once upon a time, he'd been a pretty average guy and that his life had once recently gone completely out of control. His father hadn't always been a bastard and his mother hadn't always been sick and he hadn't always been terrified to leave the tiny basement he'd called home since his father had gotten rid of him a year ago.

He'd had friends and a loving family and he'd been on the basketball team and captain of the fucking soccer team. He'd had a pretty girlfriend and, after a serious re-evaluation of his life, a handsome boyfriend. He'd thought he was fearless and that nothing could possibly ever fuck up his life because…because he was normal. Blond hair, greenish-eyes, two parents, and a dog. He'd shopped at the GAP.

He had been tragically all-American.

Except for the gay thing and that was easily overlooked in the grand scheme of everything he'd 'been' and stood for. He'd been sixteen for all of a week, had his own car much to his mother's annoyance, and life had been so perfect it hurt to even think about.

And in one instant it'd just…been over. He and his idiot friends had been playing a game, in honor of the end of the year, a scavenger hunt of sorts. It had found him at the dock, looking for an anchor to toss into the back of his jeep before racing back to the field and winning the game.

There had been some kind of explosion and a strange gas had come rolling over the docks, chasing dozens of teenagers who were scrambling to get away. He'd run as well and he had thought he'd escaped it, being at the head of the pack…

But he hadn't.

He'd had a nightmare for the first time in over ten years that night and just about every night sense. He'd thought himself to be fearless and now fear was all that he knew. He saw horrible images dancing along the back of his eyelids and when his emotions went out of control he could bring the images to life and make them…real.

He hadn't fully understood it until the fire. He'd attempted to cook, because his mother was too tired to even get out of bed. She had been more or less labeled a lost cause, far too gone for chemotherapy to do anything except prolong the inevitable, thanks to a mixture of late diagnosis and really crappy insurance, and she hadn't wanted that. It had hurt her to…to live and it had hurt him to look at her, because all he could see when he looked at her was death.

It wasn't that he couldn't cook, it was about the only definable skill he had beyond being able to kick a ball into a net, he'd just been distracted that day. A dishtowel had caught fire and he'd…seen it catching to curtains and then the cabinets and then engulfing the kitchen and the living room and the house and the neighbors house and…it had just been so completely out of control.

He and his mother had gotten out, barely, and watched as half of the block turned to ash and rubble. The police department couldn't find a reason for it, a simple dishtowel fire shouldn't have gotten so out of control or been so impossible to fight but…it had been.

Because of him. He'd know it was his fault from the moment the kitchen went up and nothing could have convinced him of otherwise. Especially after the news about the Bang Babies became known. He was one of them only he didn't have a cool power like controlling fire or electricity or shadows, he destroyed things with a touch of a thought and turned them to dust.

Everything he looked at was breakable and he knew just the button to push to bring them crashing to the ground and he could see how they would fracture and shatter before he even made it happen. He'd envisioned his own death a thousand times before and each time seemed more horrible than the last until finally…they didn't mean anything.

He cut himself off from the pain and the horror and just hid himself away and hoped for the end of the world. His mother had ordered his father to make him see a doctor, a specialist in Metropolis who dealt with 'abnormalities' like his. He'd had a million and one tests run, until the money ran out and he came back to Dakota unchanged.

His father has apparently gotten some understanding of his power and decided his mother's cancer was his fault. He'd seen it, seen her die in his head, and now it was happening and he hadn't been able to argue. Who the hell knew what he did and didn't do?

Things had changed then. He couldn't play sports, too many ways to be hurt or killed, couldn't drive or ride the bus or even really walk to school anymore because so much could go wrong. He didn't even answer the phone for fear that he'd be electrocuted, no matter how unlikely it seemed.

He couldn't…do anything except sit in his room and stay perfectly still because moving could mean death. Living meant death and he was too afraid to live. He could only block out the fear and just…exist if he didn't move and so he did his best to just be there but not really there.

It had only lasted until his father threw him out. After that he'd been exposed, vulnerable and out in the open where anything could attack him or kill him and death lurked behind every corner. And not just his death, because maybe he could have lived with that, but the deaths of others. He saw them die in is head and ran away before he could make it happen or even think about stopping it from happening.

Sometimes he wanted to split open his own head and pull out his brain just to stop the screaming that bounced around inside of his skull.

Sometimes he helped people, like he'd done with Virgil, but he couldn't help but think that he was the reason those situations happened to begin with. He just…his mother had been a big believer in things always happening for a reason and he didn't want to just…let go of something that maybe he could use to help someone.

Richie said he could help him and Jacob didn't know what else he could do except…accept his help. Anything had to be better than being afraid of people and himself and every damn thing else in the world. He hated feeling like that. It wasn't him…he'd never been that way before and he felt so…outside of his own body sometimes.

He was willing to do anything. Except maybe he should have thought that one through a little bit better.

Jacob's eyes darted from Batman to the Martian back to Batman. He'd indicated to Richie that he'd be fine without him or Virgil around, but he was about ready to throw up from nervousness. Aliens and major hero guys weren't exactly his everyday fare. Static and Gear were one thing, but Batman…

Shit. The fucking Justice League.

Batman was staring at him and Jacob couldn't help but feel like the man could see right through him and knew every little mistake he'd ever made.

Oh yes. He was going to be sick.

"Try to calm down." The Martian said, voice surprising soothing. It was calm, even, and seemed to seep into his mind, covering it in a warm blanket and soothing away his unease. He let out a breath then nodded slowly.

"'M fine." Strangely enough he meant it.

"I'm J'onn and I am, among other things, telepathic. Batman has suggested that because of this I may of use to you, concerning the use of your abilities."

Jacob tilted his head off to the side. "Help me what with them? I don't want them gone, if that's what you're offering." He couldn't just…give them up without trying to use them for something resembling good. He had always been told things happened for a reason, no matter how bad they seemed, and he wasn't going to give up without at least trying to discern it.

"If my understanding it correct, your mind is always on. Even here your primary emotion was fear. You live in a constant state of fear of everything."

He nodded. From the sickening thought of having his atoms scattered all around the galaxy to the dozens of ways a window could crack or something could knock them out of their orbit or power could go out…it seemed like this place was more of a death trap than anything else.

Though, logically, he knew it was fairly safe…but to him nothing was ever really safe.

"I had to learn to control my telepathy around humans and I think I might be able to use my experience to help you learn to suppress your abilities or at least filter to a certain degree."

Jacob blinked, heart skipping a beat. "Umm. What? I mean…you…what?"

While Richie had promised to help him with his power he hadn't excepted anything to happen so fast or to be offered help from someone like this. He'd figured he'd wade his through it and hope that maybe he'd see some kind of results eventually. This seemed like the promise of something…more.

J'onn's lips curved slightly. "You're surprised."

Jacob knew he was blushing, "I didn't think…you don't even know me. Why would you want to help me?" His faith in humanity wasn't…impressive, to say the absolute least of the matter.

"We make it our business to be aware of all young people with extra-human abilities. If Static and Gear hadn't encountered you we would have intervened soon." As J'onn spoke his gaze flickered over towards Batman who just nodded slightly, apparently agreeing.

He was suddenly acutely aware of how creepy the idea of being watched constantly without knowing it really was. But, in a general sense, he understood. After something like the Big Bang happened there could be dozens of super powered people running around and if someone didn't try to keep them under control some serious hell could, and probably would, break loose.

That aside, he was being offered some serious help with his power. If he could repress, or even kind of filter some of the things in his head out, he could stop accidentally destroying things and throwing everything around him into disorder every time he got upset or nervous or stressed…

Lots of things really. Emotions tended to be dangerous things when he felt them and led to very nasty things for those unlucky enough to encounter him.

"What do I need to do?"

J'onn stared at him for a moment, eyes serious, before speaking. "You must understand that this will not be an easy endeavor. It will take time and work and it will often be far from pleasant. In order to achieve a kind of balance you must learn to center yourself, which may be…difficult ."

"That's fine." He felt something that may have been excitement in the pit of his stomach but it was hard to really say. He hadn't felt anything but afraid and anxious in a very long time and things outside of those two emotions were…different.

He was graced with another small smile before J'onn glanced over at Batman, who was still hovering to the side silently. To say he was intimidating would have been the understatement of a lifetime. Jacob's stomach churned nervously.

"I was able to find information about your mother. She never married Jeffery Nash and she was born in New York, not Nebraska which may have been the reason Richie was having trouble locating her." His voice was a carefully maintained deadpan but that didn't stop Jacob from picking up on the underlying tone. "I'm sorry to say that she died during this past winter and Nash left the state. I didn't bother trying to track him down."

Jacob nodded a little absently at that. It wasn't like he cared much where his father had cone off to.

There was a distant sort of hurt, muffled as if it were wrapped in cotton and stored far away from his mind. He could acknowledge that it didn't feel right like this and that he was becoming detached but he couldn't let it bother him. He could not lose control.

It wasn't like he hadn't expected this. She'd been sick, very sick, for a while and it was better this way because at least she wasn't hurting anymore. And if he kept thinking like that he might actually begin to believe it.

Either way he couldn't afford to feel it.

"Okay." He tugged at the hem of Richie's sweatshirt, fingers seeking and finding a loose thread which he began to tug at anxiously. He was okay, this was okay, he could handle this, and he would _not_ freak out. He couldn't freak out.

Only the more he thought about it the more it hurt. The cotton shield was falling apart and leaks were springing and that brought to mind the image of a dam shattering and oddly enough that wasn't actually helping him out any.

The lights went out and, much against his will, he screamed and all but fell from his chair. He didn't like the dark, even thought he knew it was wussy and kind of pathetic but he just…hated the dark. Not seeing anything meant all things were possible and that he couldn't escape because he couldn't see anything. You could die in and dark and never know why. He didn't care that it was a childish fear and that he should have gotten over it years ago but…

Blackness. He didn't like it. There were really things lurking under the cover of darkness that went bump in the night and wanted to destroy because…because there was more than just dark. It was like it was alive and

"Power failure." Batman sounded almost bewildered. "Computers are own. Something drained the entire Tower and the backup systems."

Jacob's throat contracted and he realized dazedly that he couldn't breath anymore. The blackness was moving in to crush him, pressing all around him and against his skin and suffocating him like a too thick blanket.

No power. No power meant no air or heat or gravity. They could get caught in by the planet's gravity and plummet to the earth. This place was so big, like a small city, and it landed in a populated area they could kill thousands of people.

His heart was thudding in his chest so loudly he could hear it in his ears, like an out of control drum beat turned all the way up.

More than thousands even, depending on how densely populated the area was, the area of impact, ensuing explosion, and the panic of the people around the impact. He could imagine the screaming hear it…no, he could feel it. Fires and falling concrete and metal and blood and screams

"Jacob."

He winced and curled in on himself, trying to block out the voices and the screaming. Too much, it was too much. Too many people all at once. Dying, everyone was dying.

"-a panic attack."

From no where the soothing presence from earlier was back and the images in his brain faded and slipped through the cracks of his mind like so much sand. He blinked, darkness vanishing because the lights were back and he could see J'onn standing over him. He was shaking all over and sweating and

Really tired all of a sudden. He closed his eyes and there was darkness.

Jacob really didn't like to sleep.

Nightmares came when he slept.

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Virgil didn't remember passing out but he defiantly remembered waking up to hear someone screaming. Only by the time his brain had caught up with his body the screaming had stopped and he was looking over to see Richie standing next to Jacob, who was sitting on a cot and staring straight ahead while breathing deeply.

For a moment Virgil was confused then his eyes darted down to Richie's hand, which was grasping Jacob's loosely.

Then he was even more confused…and a little annoyed.

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Mechante: I do have a few stories floating about don't I… I try to keep busy. And yes, Blair is rather 'epicurean' (a conclusion I reached after looking it up) and the name does…apply. I'll have to think it over some more I guess. We shall see… And no, I'm afraid I'm not a super brain. At times though, I wish I was. Life would be easier.

Cherre: It was supposed to tweak you, so don't trouble yourself over it. It just means I'm doing everything right…

Moonjava: Well, I'm certainly glad that you like it.

Kari: I'm glad you like Jacob; I worry about that at times. Original Characters are tricky things to get into… And you're right, it'd be one thing if Richie was just bi-polar (they have treatment for that) but the fact it may be Bang Gas induced is a different matter entirely. Then again that idea could just be in his head. We figure out some more about Virgil's little spark show…eventually. This chapter was a trip through the caverns of Jacob's mind.

Richie I Love You: Richie is probably going a little crazy, but not in a bad way exactly. But I'm inclined to agree as far as being involved with Jacob goes: It's not going to make any of them feel any better on any level. Neither one needs someone who is going to break and at the moment both are extremely cracked and thisclose to shattering.

Josie: Well, we saw more of Jacob in this chapter. The thing about original characters is that some people give you everything in the first few paragraphs and thus the character is…2-D. I don't want to do that so I lay initial personality traits and then develop him the same way I will Richie and Virgil. It just…takes too damn long. Ugh. I'm glad I got Richie across well to everyone. It was a hard chapter, I've never been really depressed myself so I was worried I'd screw it up…

Also: Thanks to Blood Mistress and Blood Demons.


	8. Seven: Driving Me Crazy

Heroes

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Chapter Seven

Driving Me Crazy

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Richie was working on a serious headache, thanks in part to the little light show Virgil had put on and the temporary scare of the Watch Tower losing power and crushing a bunch of unlucky people. His mind had already come up with ways to guide the station into the ocean to avoid hurting civilians before he'd even realized what he was thinking about.

Virgil had stood, glowing like come kind of demented nightlight, for a few heart stopping moments in that had effectively felt like forever to Richie, before simply blinking out. He'd collapsed, all of the energy around him seeming to vanish before power returned to the station as if nothing had happened to begin with, and had yet to wake back up.

As if all of that hadn't been trauma inducing enough for one day after John had carried Virgil up to the infirmary they'd found Jacob had also passed out. Batman had muttered something vague about a panic attack before grilling a very annoyed looking John on what had happened. Wally had tugged him into the room Virgil and Jacob had been placed in while explaining that he didn't need, or want, to be around for the ensuing argument.

Two men that broody and sarcastic could do nothing but snipe at each other, according to Wally at least, and he'd know better than Richie would.

"But not to worry; me and J'onn will keep the usual violence to an minimum for the sake of you guys." Wally had flashed him a right smile then pulled the door shut and, Richie assumed, went to keep Batman and Lantern from coming to blows. Now Richie was left with only two unconscious teens and his thoughts.

It was the latter that was worrying.

Virgil's incident had been very…different. Not that Virgil couldn't absorb energy; he did it whenever he was in need of an emergency recharge, but that had seemed just a tad beyond his usual energy boost. And by a tad he meant a lot.

First he'd absorbed the robots energy and Richie couldn't even say for sure than the thing ran on electricity. Beyond that he couldn't recall Virgil every draining anything except a stationary source of straight electricity. More alarming than that had been the sheer amount of energy he must have drained and then stored in his body, however briefly, without completely burning himself out.

The only thing that compared in Richie's mind was when Virgil had taken energy from the 'Tower to shut down Brainiac and even then he hadn't actually shut anything down and he'd barely been able to hold what he'd taken in then. He'd whined about having a pounding headache for a good thirty until Richie finally suggested he just expel all of the energy he was holding.

Could have powers had grown so much?

Well, in a purely technical sense, why couldn't they?

Virgil's powers had obviously been growing from the first moment he'd been hit with the Bang gas and there didn't seem to be any evidence that his powers wouldn't continue to grow. After all, during his little jaunt into the future, Virgil had claimed he'd be one of the big Heroes, so it made sense he'd eventually go beyond fighting gang members in Dakota.

But, by that same line of reasoning, when would his power growth stop? Is was a reasonable assumption that at some point it had to stop otherwise Virgil would literally burn his body out, unless his body mutated to be able to handle more energy that most human bodies. Not to be overly philosophical but the body was just…flesh and bone and easily destroyed or harmed.

His mind flashed back to how Virgil had looked, energy bright around him and seeming to glow from the inside. There were heroes who were just…pure energy and no body.

Would that happen to Virgil?

He couldn't imagine what that would be like; his best friend the purple energy ball…how would he keep himself together? He'd need some kind of shell to hold of all the energy in one place, or else risk being scattered every time the wind blew.

He almost laughed as an image of Virgil sneezing and then exploding into a thousand pieces and flying around like ash. He probably would have laughed if not for the scream that effectively tore him from his thoughts. He jumped up, heart leaping into his throat as he prepared for some kind of fight, before he realized that the source was coming from next to him.

Jacob was sitting bolt upright, already pale skin completely devoid of any color and his eyes so wide they seemed to take up most of his face, but were also glassy and unfocused. His skin was bright with sweat and his breathing was sharp and uneven.

Richie swallowed, trying to force his heartbeat back to normal, before reaching out and touching the other teen's arm. Jacob jerked back the moment Richie's fingers touched his skin but awareness started to flood his eyes. He was silent for a long moment, looking almost confused.

"…Richie?"

"Uh…hi." Richie offered a wobbly smile and was rewarded with another slightly confused look. "Umm. Are you okay? I think you had a nightmare or…something."

"…a nightmare?" Jacob's voice was distant and shaky. "Yes I…nightmare. I…"

His eyes darted up to stare at Richie's face and he was struck by his eyes and how…different they seemed. They were wider, more green than brown, with a ring of black around the irises and were faintly shiny with wetness. His lips were parted slightly to let out a harsh breath. His gaze darted back down to his hands and Richie followed, strangely unsurprised to find them shaking.

More on instinct than anything else Richie reached out and grabbed his hand, feeling the slight slickness of sweat over skin and the slight trembling. Jacob just stared at Richie as if he'd just grown another head before his eyes. He looked as if he was going to say something when the door opened and Wally poked his head in.

"No ones dead or anything, right?" Richie stared at him and Wally just shrugged. "Someone screamed and I wanted to make sure you were all still breathing."

Richie nodded but glanced over his shoulder at Virgil's bed nonetheless. He found the other teen was not only awake but sitting up and seemed to be staring holes through his back. Seeing he was caught Virgil coughed then swung his legs over the bed, clearly intent on getting up.

"V, what are you doing? You just drained the entire tower, you can't just go…walking around."

"I feel fine." As if to prove it Virgil stood up and didn't so much as wobble. "Besides, you look a little occupied at the moment and I don't want to be in the way."

Richie arched an eyebrow. What did he mean 'occupied'? As if to answer his question Jacob pulled his hand away and reached up to push his hair away from his forehead while his gaze once again fell away from Richie.

He stared at Virgil, for the first time wondering at his friend's apparent denseness in all important matters. He didn't think Virgil had come to any sudden revelations in the past thirty minutes. It was Virgil after all… Not that there were any sudden revelations to come to about anything.

But if there had been it was unlikely that Virgil would have reached any.

"What're you talking about?" He decided to just go for clueless.

Virgil's eyes flickered over to Jacob pointedly and Richie was pretty sure he blushed. Why he was blushing he didn't know. It wasn't like he liked Jacob or anything…sure, he was attractive in a way but he was also so…so much like Richie was, at least on the surface.

Detached…

"Static, now that you're no longer unconscious, I think Bats wants to talk to you." Wally interrupted while stepping aside to let Virgil through the door. Richie watched Virgil walk away, a strange hollow feeling settling into his stomach. "Well. He didn't look happy."

"I noticed." Richie muttered. "Weird."

Wally smirked at him and nodded before backing out of the room again. Something at the way he'd been grinning was sending off tiny alarm bells in his brain, but he couldn't quite grasp why, which made it even more bothersome to be perfectly honest.

He could feel a headache coming on.

Jacob pulled his legs up to meet his chest then cocked his head off to the side. "What happened?"

"You had a panic attack." Richie explained

"oh. So I freaked out and then fainted. Good to know." His lips quirked into a wry smile. "It's been known to happen when I…too much stuff all at once. Too many options."

"Overload?" Richie asked while leaning forward some. That was an interesting revelation. While Jacob obviously couldn't control his ability this was a more…clear weakness of sorts. He could suffer an overload if too much information hit him at once and his body shut itself down.

Like a computer.

"Overloads. That sounds so…mechanical." Jacob rested his chin on his knees, eyes thoughtful. "I've been thinking I should be an insurance sells man or something. Maybe help companies come up with really terrifying simulations to make people buy insurance."

"Uh…interesting."

"Not particularly. Just…wondering what useful talents I've still got. If I can look at something and figure out the past and future and what strings to pull to throw it all off then why not go with that?"

"Just like that? You just look and you know?"

"Yeah. Just…like that." He looked down and near translucent lashes brushed over pale skin. "You get it, right? Just…knowing things. Retaining things. Never really forgetting."

"Yeah, I get it. The computer brain never forgets."

Jacob laughed, a light almost eerie noise. "You don't really believe that. Computers don't bleed. You understand that as well as I do."

Richie's breath caught in his throat and he nearly jumped out of his chair. Jacob's lips twisted into a hollow parody of a smile before he shrugged his shoulders slightly and looked up through his lashes, seeming almost shy.

"See? Strings."

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"Do you know what happened?" J'onn asked, gaze focused on the screen of the computer.

"Not really." Virgil had been told to sit on one of the examination tables and the computer was running some kinds of weird scans on him. Anything didn't involve drawing blood was fine by Virgil, who'd never been a fan of needles.

"You tried to shock the 'droid but it didn't work so you began draining it instead." Lantern was hovering nearby, looking as anxious as Virgil had even seen him. He looked worried…or at least what worried for Lantern would have been, which was still calm and collected for most people. Wally had come back and had his chin resting on Lantern's shoulder.

It was almost scary how at ease Lantern looked with having the other man hanging on him like that. Lantern had never seemed like the type to like being touched but…he didn't seem to be too worried about it.

It was…odd to see. Not bad, because Virgil certainly didn't care who Lantern wanted to be with be they male or female because he was…Lantern no matter what, but very odd. Flash had always seemed a complete goof off and Lantern was so serious.

"Not on purpose. It wasn't working and then I just…started taking it in. I didn't mean to, my body just…reacted."

"I believe that time has furthered your mutation." J'onn said, finally looking at Virgil. "Your DNA was slightly different than that of your average human but now it appears to be changing again. The human body runs on a form of electricity and your body has…cells that seem to be specially geared to absorbing and holding it. These extra cells are altering."

Virgil blinked, hoping the fact he had no idea what the Martian was talking about would be communicated by the dumb expression on his face. Well, he wasn't completely clueless. Extra cells, storing electricity, altering DNA…he got that.

"What are they changing into?"

"I'm not sure." J'onn admitted. "It doesn't seem to be causing you any harm though."

Virgil scratched the back of his neck, frowning. "I'm not going to turn into something…not human am I? My dad probably wouldn't appreciate that much…"

"I suppose it's plausible you could…become a being of solid energy." J'onn said almost musingly. "What Wally and John described would seem to lend credibility to your physical body changing somewhat. I can't say, exactly, how far the mutation may or may not go. After all, others affected by the chemicals you inhaled instantly underwent physical changes."

Virgil twitched. He knew he was lucky in that his power wasn't something you could see and he was grateful for that. And, on that note, he wanted to keep it that way. He wondered if that made him a bad person…either way, he didn't want to be a big ball of electricity.

He didn't think he could manage to hide that from Sharon.

"I will run some more tests. In the meantime I think it would be best to also take a look at Richie and Jacob, to see if they are affected as well."

There was a strange pang in Virgil's chest at the mention of Richie. He shoved it aside though; what did he care if Richie would rather hold hands with the homeless kid they didn't even know, than check to see if he was okay?

It wasn't like they were dating or something and Richie was more than free to pursue whoever he wanted to. Soo…yeah.

He didn't care.

….

He was so lying to himself.

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Moon: Ah, my dear, I'm glad you liked it.

Cherre: Jacob's fear of the dark was strange to write, because I don't think I've ever been afraid of the dark myself…but I'm glad it got across well.

Blood: I try to give everyone equal time but Richie and Jacob are so fantastically dysfunctional that they demand more effort, as far as puzzling them out goes. Everything about Virgil's power flux will be revealed as soon as Richie figures it out. And I'm glad I didn't bomb, that's always good to know. I worry about stuff like that you know…

Mechante: I've been strangely active this week, don't you think… Jacob pretty much runs on pure fear. Seriously, he barely eats and he's afraid to sleep…he just keeps going because of what he's afraid will happen if he stops. And yeah, Virgil's feelings are hurt. How dare Richie pay more attention to the freaky homeless kid than to him?

Tristripe: How I sort them out is for me to know and you to keep reading to find out. I know, evil isn't it?

Silent: Maybe…because Broken is one of the most awesome songs…ever? I'm just tossing that out there. I'm honored that Jay would invoke such a song in your mind.

Kari: I'd be glad to help. Just send an email to me (Dimitri Aidan at yahoo) and I'd be glad to offer my two cents or…whtaver.

Richie: Well. Death is a perfectly natural part of life… It's not really mystery, exactly, so much as a lot of things he just doesn't want to know about him.

Estel: You shouldn't trust him yet. I mean, what do we really know about Jacob? He's a creepy guy with no family to speak of, no friends, and a power that could probably destroy a person's life if he didn't like them. We don't know anything about his intentions or wants… I don't want you to trust him, otherwise he'd be a little less 'shady', you know?

Isis: Hmm…Sorry?


	9. Interlude: There's no More Feeling

Heroes: There's no More Feeling

Notes: So. This was chapter three. Now it's not anymore. It's Interlude One. Interludes, I've decided, are things I could fit into the story but don't feel like fitting in.

Oh and look…I'm not dead. If you thought so I don't blame you, I thought I was dead a couple of times but as it turned out I was just knee deep in Young Avengers, Justice League, and Supernatural. Respectively. It was hard for Richie and V to compete. But anyway…now that I've written this and three other chapters I'm not even sure if I want to keep it up as is or take it down, edit it, and then start reposting… Hell, I don't even remember the original plot line. Probably for the best since I think I'd like this new angle I have better anyway.

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Interlude One

There's No More Feeling

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Watching Virgil sleep was probably atthe heightof dysfunction. He was peaceful though, actually looked his age for a change of pace, and it was hard not to watch. Richie had never really thought about it before but what they did aged them…it did that to everyone though. It not only forced you to be mature, but it made you live your life so much faster and harder. The Superhero life span was a sucky one, though from what he understood if you were 'lucky' death was just a temporary thing, like a vacation.

But it was still really dysfunctional to be watching his best friend sleep. It bordered on creepy.

Richie rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, mind going back to his post 'staring at V' thoughts. It was amazing how a million tiny things could go wrong in a split instant, that even the most cautious of people would never even think of. Then again most people just saw surface things, where as he could see through them, around them, behind them, and comprehend the smallest part of them. The world had no secrets from him and he never wondered how things worked, because the world was just one giant detailed blueprint to him.

He supposed talking to Jacob about the way his power worked had him looking at things just a little bit differently. Instead of seeing all possibilities he was trying to filter his mind to just the negative possibilities. And damn, but there were a lot of them.

He was sleeping on Virgil's floor, which he'd done a thousand times before, only now his mind had provided well over a dozen perfectly logical and probable ways for him to die. Undoubtedly his mind could have provided more but he'd been getting kind of weirded out.

Then again there was a lot that had freaked him out lately. Not the least of which was his unintentional viewing of Jacob in a…less than totally clothed state the day they'd first met. He blamed Virgil of course, for leaving the clothes in his room instead of putting them in the bathroom. Another thing was Virgil in general; he wasn't acting as clueless as usual and nothing good could possibly come of that. And, of course, himself.

But freaking himself out was nothing new.

He sighed and looked over at the clock. 5 AM. He didn't think he'd slept at all. Then again he hadn't really slept all week. His brain didn't seem to want to shut down long enough for him to get rest. Like the headaches it seemed to be happening more and more frequently and only getting worse and worse, like something was on the inside of his skull and wanted to escape and since it couldn't it was running around in crazed circles and screaming loudly.

Sometimes he wanted to bang his head against something sharp just to break it open and let what was inside ooze out. That, however, was not a healthy impulse and should be shared with no one lest he end up in a place with padded walls.

He pushed himself up, not bothering to be quiet because nothing short of an earthquake would wake Virgil before he was good and ready to be awake.

He headed for the kitchen hoping for something sweet and heart destroying to take his mind off of…his mind. He was pretty sure there was something wrong with him, which brought him back to that long ago, faded thought about more mutation.

He wasn't sure how to check for the change though. It was one thing to distinguish how he and Virgil were different from normal humans but trying to figure out how he was different from himself was probably going to be just a little bit more complex.

He expected everything to be off and quiet but instead saw the backyard light dancing along the tiles of the kitchen floor. He yawned and scratched the back of his neck while walking over, not really feeling the chill of the bare floor beneath his feet.

A glance out of the backdoor found Jacob, sitting on the stoop with his legs pulled up to his chest and watching the deserted street behind the Hawkins house with total concentration. Richie leaned against the frame, considering. Should he go out there or just go back upstairs…he knew he never particularly cared for people intruding upon his solitude, as it were.

A car went past, lights reaching out into the back yard and almost touching Jacob who wrapped his arms tighter around himself, as if he was cold. Which he wasn't, it was still early summer and nearly sixty-five degrees. The sun was creeping along the edge of the horizon, preparing to announce the beginning of yet another day. Jacob's hair ruffled lightly as the grass bent in a breeze. Richie's breath hit the window in a cloud and…nothing at all was being accomplished.

He pushed the door open somewhat and Jacob turned to look at him. He blinked then turned back to the road, hunching over slightly.

"Been out here long?" And why did that sound so damn close to some kind of cheesy come on to his ears? Why did it matter if it sounded like that anyway? It was just a perfectly reasonable question, not the end of the world.

"All night. Cars go past approximately every fifteen minutes between the hours of midnight and five."

"Uh. Wow. That's…"

"Completely useless information." There was a note of strained amusement to his tone. "I just…had to focus on something."

"Ah." Richie sat next to Jacob. Goosebumps were running the length of the other teen's bare arms and he was shivering minutely even though Richie knew there was no way he was cold. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Never."

Richie started, drawing back some. "_Never?_"

"Wha…no, not never sleep." Jacob laughed and shook his head. "Who never sleeps? I think the UN has rules about depriving POW of sleep-"

Richie's mind was kind enough to supply the exact part of the Geneva Convention that was and he couldn't help but wonder how he knew that without having…had any base knowledge for it. Was he just wired to all sorts of random stuff now? How could that even work?

"Batman, I've heard."

"Oh. Well that can't be good…you're joking." Jacob's lips twitched again and he ducked his head but Richie could still see the blush. "Obviously. Sorry. Its late, my brain is fried."

Richie shrugged and tilted his head slightly. "So?"

"I sleep, when I can manage. Sometimes my head is so loud and busy that I can't even hear myself think and it's just so much that I want to reach inside and just pull it all out." Jacob's fingers clenched on his arms for a moment, a sign of unease Richie noted absently. "In a big bloody gray mess…I can see it perfectly, feel the texture of blood and brain under my fingertips. Just to make all of the voices stop for a little while."

"You'd probably be dead, so more than a little while." And Richie didn't even want to think about how closely that echoed his own thoughts at _all. _Richie looked away from Jacob at the street, pointedly not reflecting on his earlier 'head bashing' train of thought.

In fact he very much didn't think about how sometimes the noise of his mind, thousands of thoughts that didn't belong to him. Sure, they were there but they weren't 'Richie's' thoughts. They were the thoughts of a hyperactive non-stop brain that he happened to inhabit when there was room for him up there. They were some kind of constant white noise but they weren't always apart of him.

Yeah. Not thinking about it.

The other teen made a strangled noise, something that was either a laugh or the prelude to crying. "Yeah. You have a point."

Silence stretched between them as the sun continued to climb higher into the sky. Early risers were stirring now, readying for work and school. A car drove past, dark blue with tinted windows. Sixteen minutes and twenty-two seconds his brain supplied before he even knew what it was giving him. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face before looking over at Jacob again.

"Hey I was wondering-"

"I've found nothing good starts that way." Jacob said, eyes darting over in his direction for a moment. "But go ahead anyway. I hear you heroes like to live dangerously."

Richie laughed, a hint of mocking in his tone. Live dangerously…maybe, but not as dangerously as they could. He could count on one hand the number of times he'd actually thought 'Holy shit, we're going to die' and those times all dealt with villains who weren't from Dakota. The bang babies didn't really scare him because…he knew most of them. Like Hotstreak; sure the guy was a total asshole and a jerk but he wasn't more than a bully with firepower behind him. Even Ebon, at his worst, never wanted to kill them so much as maim and humiliate them. He was a thug, not an out and out killer. At least not to Richie's knowledge.

No, it was when dealing with people like Joker and The Toy Maker and Sinestro that Richie was afraid. They were the real deal, leaving bodies in their wake and laughing while they did it and nothing like the petty criminals he and Static put away.

"What's it like, really? The way you see things? I was thinking earlier and…I can imagine but I'm not sure if it's right."

"It's…huh…I…didn't I explain this already?" He said finally as he wrapped his arms around his knees, drawing into himself. "It's like seeing everything but seeing layers of everything with…strings and buttons and facts and figures and…possibilities. I guess."

Richie nodded; that was after all how Jacob had explained it the first time around. It just wasn't a very definite sort of explanation and Richie wanted something more than that because…because he didn't know. He looked at Jacob and there was nothing. He looked at other people and all sorts of things came to him, from simple things like height and weight to more specialized things. He couldn't look at Virgil and not have, in that whispery part of his mind that was there without being focused on, ideas about how better to help Static and Gear.

And it was getting worse…now he was knowing more…things were coming to him that he simply shouldn't know just being smart.

"Like a road." Richie found himself talking without realizing he was. He did that occasionally, some part of his brain would think something out and take over while leaving the part that was Richie to watch and follow along. "And you can see where the road was and where it is and then all of the different forks in the road that could be followed."

Jacob didn't move for a moment then he tilted his head to the side and a slow smile curved his lips. "Yeah. Exactly."

Richie focused on the smile for a moment then nodded to himself, a strangely warm feeling settling over him, like when he'd solved some big challenge. He didn't get too many challenges these days; most things were an open book.

"But it's always night and there are things, terrible things, no matter which way I look and so I never move. I just…watch and try not to throw up. I rock back and forth in corners talking to myself occasionally, for my own amusement."

"…huh?"

"I figure when I stop laughing at that sort of thing I need to just be put out my misery." Richie could just make out the ghost of a smile from the corner of his eye. "I like that though. A road…but with me in the middle of the road and a truck about to mow me down. How's that?"

Richie rolled his eyes, glad for the light tone the conversation as taking. He shoved Jacob lightly and was rewarded with one of the first non-sardonic laughs he'd heard from the other man. "Your paranoia is hardly a feature of the road."

"Bullshit, my paranoia _is_ the road…wait. No…it's the…yellow line? White line?" Richie snorted but Jacob waved a hand at him to be quiet. "It's…the sky? Uh…the tress…you know what, fuck you."

"Because it's my fault it's meaningless to the road?"

Jacob nodded. "Pretty much."

"That's stupid."

Jacob opened his mouth to reply but the sound of the door creaking open made them both turn. Virgil was standing in the doorway, mouth open mid-yawn. Richie couldn't help but snicker; something about V early in the morning was always laugh worthy. He looked so…out of it.

"Why're you up?" Richie asked once Virgil's yawn had subsided. Virgil's brow furrowed in what could only be early morning 'too incoherent to understand' confusion. "If I woke you up-"

"Nah. Wanted an early start…I think. I had a reason when I got up." Virgil blinked almost owlishly then, shaking his head, turned around went back inside, muttering to himself. Jacob was silent for a moment, face unreadable.

"Wow. That…is he always?"

"Pretty much." Richie couldn't stop a fond smile from quirking his lips.

00000000000

"Sir, he's waking up." The words kind of hovered over him, echoing in his head with a soft urgency.

There were other sounds but the way the echoed made it impossible for him to define them properly. There was also a hazy white light and, despite some misgivings about going towards a light floating in the darkness and what that might imply, he went for it anyway. The light got brighter and brighter and the sounds around him echoed less until his eyes were open and staring at a dull gray ceiling. There was a lamp hovering around his torso, bright but not blinding.

_Where…a hospital. I'm in a goddamn hospital. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck _

He tried to lift his hand but found he couldn't actually feel his body. Frowning some, because who was to say he even had a body at this point, he tired to move head to look around but found it felt too heavy to do so. A little distressing but not so much so that he was really bothered by it. Then again, his head felt kind of…fuzzy, like he was there but…wasn't, at the same time.

That didn't make any sense.

He was really high.

A man came into his line of sight and he was treated to a hard smile cold blue eyes. "I see. We've been waiting for you to wake up for sometime."

He just blinked. Not because he didn't have anything to say, he always had something to say, but because he found his mouth wasn't working at the moment and that kind of hindered the speech thing. Oh well, by the looks of things he wasn't expected to respond.

"We put a lot of work into rebuilding you after that little incident in Dakota you understand. You weren't my first pick for this little experiment of course but Alva seemed to think it was genius and I do have to admit the state we found you in gave us so much to work with."

He just blinked again; mind racing to fill in what he could in the man's statement. Alva…that rich fuck who was to blame for all of the shit in Dakota nine out of ten times, obviously. Incident…which one? There'd be so many things that he was at the center at that were referred to as 'incidents' because 'Group of super humans lead by Sociopath blow shit up!' sounds really bad, even if it was accurate.

Still…god, which one. Obviously whatever it was had left some damage if the way this guy was talking was any indication…what…oh. Yeah. The dumbshit cure had put his powers on the fritz. They'd lost Talon and then the Ambiguously Gay Duo had come after them to stop them from…

_Oh. _

_Oh shit_.

Wait…he didn't feel like two people. Was he still two people? He didn't want to be two people, especially if he had to be part of Ebon. He didn't like the other teen for one thing and for another was just too much male type togetherness for his personal comfort. He wasn't that sort…and if he had been that sort, and that was a big if, he would have never looked Ebon's way.

Static perhaps. Or…Robin maybe. He'd never seen the guy in real life of course but he was an impressive sight in newspapers and…

Why was he thinking about this again?

His panic must have shown because the man smirked and moved for a moment before a mirror replaced him. He stared at himself, not sure what to think. He looked like him except…not. Red hair, green eyes, same roguishly handsome face if was permitted to say so but…well he was ink colored. Like that fuck Ebon had been. That didn't bode well at all.

But he didn't have a second head and he didn't feel like anyone other than himself so…well, he was fucking confused.

"We were able to eliminate that other…personality. He was too risky an element, a sociopath if his file was correct. I'd explain the process to you but I'm not sure if you'd understand, with your tenth grade education." _Fuck you, you condescending bastard. _"However I didn't see a reason to eliminate his power from your DNA, it could prove useful after all."

Yeah, he could see that. The man came back, staring down at him. He stared back placidly, wondering if he could even get panicked at this point. How much shit did they have pumped into him anyway…whatever it was, it was grade A.

"Do you know who I am?" _I'll take an annoying prick with no hair for 400 Alex._ "Lex Luthor. You've been unconscious for some time so I'm sure that doesn't mean quite what it could, but I'm sure it means something to you."

Yep. It meant he was officially fucked. Nothing good could come of Lex fucking Luthor deciding to play doctor on him with Alva working back up.

So fucked. Not even grade A drugs could detract from that.

"I have a proposition. You can work for me and bring me Static and Gear, along with a few run away experiments that may have slipped away from us at some point, and I'll let you live. Or you can refuse and I'll kill you."

_Because that's a really fair choice right there. Death or go into league with the guy who is insane enough to take on Superman on the regular. Goody._

He blinked, hoping that would pass as a yes. Sure, this would in no way end well, but at least he wouldn't be dead. End up back in jail maybe but still…not dead. Superheroes didn't kill people; they just locked them up a lot and, hopefully, protected them from crazy bald dudes.

He could go for that.

"Good. When the tranquilizers wear off you'll be brought up to speak to me." Luthor smiled slowly and it if he'd had any control over his body he probably would have run away. He wasn't a wuss but this guy…unreal. Why did he always get involved with the crazy ones? Why did that sound so wrong? "We have lots to talk about Francis."

0000000000000

You know, I wrote this and then went 'Wha? Hotstreak? Hotstreak doesn't have the sense God gave a shovel! Lex would never…wait. Yeah he would.' So if you too question Lex's common sense remember…He's the Goddamn Lex Luthor (…does anyone get the reference? Maybe?) He can do whatever he wants, even if it doesn't make sense to me or you.

Now, having said all that I'm gonna go start to edit some stuff. Amazing what glaring errors you can pick out a year later.


	10. Eight: What You Need

Heroes

Notes: More plot…ah, how I hate the slow unfocused build up that I think I'm kind of known for. I have issues getting to the point…or, rather, knowing what the point is. But, as I know where I intend to end up for a change, this may go smoothly… maybe. Probably not.

Oh, and I now know the real point of interludes: To keep sudden shifts in time from being too jarring. At least…that's how I intend to use them.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter Eight

What you Need

XXXXXXXXXXXX

It was about two weeks after their trip to the tower and they were now trailing Virgil's sister and Adam through the mall for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which was getting Jacob out of Richie and Virgil's clothes. There was also the issue of Virgil's tux for prom and some things Sharon wanted to look at for her wedding.

"My feet hurt." Virgil whined only to get a raised eyebrow from his sister. He sighed and continued to trail after her. She had Jacob by the elbow, with Adam close behind. He and Richie were bringing up the rear and playing human pack mules.

"Could be worse bro'." Richie said with a smile. "At least Jacob seems to know what he wants and Sharon approves of it. I haven't heard her go 'God, how do you dress yourself?' or 'No wonder you two only have each other for company' once. Though the latter would be out of place."

Virgil laughed while shifting the bags he was holding. "True enough. She must have said that to us ten times apiece."

"Hey you two hurry it up!" Sharon's voice seemed to swallow up the noise of the rest of the crowd so that all they could hear was her. He would never understand how she could manage such a thing. "We haven't got all day you know."

"I could really go for some kind of major emergency right about now." Virgil muttered as he quickened his pace.

"Are you insane?" Richie stared at him, decision clearly already made. "Do you have any idea what Sharon would do to us if we left? Have you no sense of self-preservation?"

Virgil's lips quirked. "When you put it like that…"

"Mm. I know sometimes I have to break these things down into tiny syllables for you understand." The sarcasm was thick enough to cut with a knife. Virgil swung, trying to catch the blond with one of the shopping bags but Richie simply sidestepped. "You're getting slow V."

"Whatever."

Richie laughed, blue eyes bright, before darting into the crowd to avoid the retribution that would normally follow escaping the first attempt at revenge. Virgil just sighed, rolling his eyes towards the class ceiling in frustration.

He was doing it again.

He was like…the Old Richie all of a sudden, instead of the New Super Moody and Slightly Scary Richie that had been hanging around for the past few weeks. He seemed…happy. He was smiling in a real way, not a forced or sarcastic one, laughing, and making jokes about his intelligence again. It was like nothing had changed.

Only something clearly had.

While Virgil was glad for the reemergence of his friend he had to admit it was just a little bit creepy how it seemed to just happen over night. If anything he would have expected Richie to be properly depressed, especially after what had happened in school.

He wondered it was his own idealism but he'd thought that the 'I'm bigger and better than you' bullies would have matured by twelfth grade and found something else to do. Or at least started to pick on the underclassmen.

He'd harbored this illusion until he'd seen Richie emerge from the nurse's office with a black eye and swollen lip. He'd told the nurse he'd been hit with a basketball in gym class but since they shared a gym period there had been no chance that was going to work on him.

It seemed Richie was as much a 'geeky little wuss target' now as he'd been when they were freshman. Not that it was true in the least. If he wanted to Richie could probably take out anyone who messed with him easily. He wasn't the same skinny and gangly kid he'd been.

All the fighting he'd done as Gear had taken care of that. Not that Virgil took the time to actually consider his best friend's body or anything like that of course. And even if he had it wasn't like he ever saw much of it. Richie was kind of shy actually, always wandering off by himself to change.

Not that Virgil cared. Because he wasn't looking and didn't want to look and if Richie thought had a reason to be shy than so be it. Right.

…anyway.

Today Richie had been cornered in one of those rare moments they weren't together. Virgil may have been talking to Daisy or something, he found he couldn't remember and labeled it as unimportant, and Richie had been heading to Psychics without him.

What exactly had happened was something that Richie wasn't sharing but the fact that his friend had been sulking and poking at his ribs throughout the rest of the day kind of made it easy for him to figure it out. He just didn't…understand.

"_Why do you let them beat you up?" _

"_What else should I do?"_

"_Kick their heads in?" _

_Richie had laughed, though the sound hadn't held his usual humor. "Trust me bro' a few little bruises aren't worth the trouble that'd come if I got into a real fight. Don't worry about it. We should get going, Sharon's going to have our balls if we're late, again." _

It'd been over like that. Virgil had been far from satisfied with that explanation but Richie hadn't really left it open to be questioned. He'd just sat in the car fiddling with the knobs for the radio and remaining pointedly silent while Virgil talked about everything from getting his butt kicked to the prom and why Richie refused to go.

Richie seemed to think it wasn't a big deal and even questioned why Virgil was making such a big deal, since he'd also ditched homecoming and everything else of the 'fun' nature that was supposed to make your senior year memorable. He'd somehow even managed to not get his picture taken once for the yearbook, which was something that had to take a lot of time and effort considering he was actually on the yearbook staff this year.

Apparently Richie didn't care about any of that though, and Virgil just couldn't understand why that was. Sometimes Richie made him crazy.

Sometimes he was a real pain in the ass.

He finally tracked down Richie and Jacob in the food court. Sharon and Adam were nowhere to be seen. He sat down, dropping the stuff he was carrying and trying not to blink at the look of pure amusement Jacob shot at him.

Apparently Richie wasn't the only one in a good mood. Maybe they had something to do with each other's good mood? He frowned at the thought. What could one kid Richie had just met have to do with his sudden change? Nothing. They didn't even know each other that well.

If Virgil couldn't do anything to get Richie out of his funks then why should this guy?

Richie moved a cup in front of him. "Sharon and Adam went to the jewelry store."

"The hunt for the perfect wedding ring continues." He muttered. A glance into the cup found a grape icy. His favorite, which meant Richie must have gotten it. Sharon had this nasty tendency to buy him banana-kiwi even though she knew he hated it.

"So it seems." Richie smiled and leaned back in his chair. "I was telling Jacob the 'Dress' saga."

Virgil just shook his head. "Why must you share my sister's insanity with others?"

"It's funny." A perfectly innocent look went along with this. He rolled his eyes and Richie stuck out his tongue, which was tinted blue. Blue raspberry, Richie's usual. "I was up to the near fistfight at that place downtown."

"Oh yeah. I never saw it coming." He smiled wryly. Sharon was determined to have the world's most perfect wedding and was willing to sacrifice everyone, including Adam and Virgil, to see it happen. Not that Adam seemed bothered by it. He seemed to think Sharon was at her best when she was descending into insanity and kicking that ass of anyone who got in her way. His eyes got all big and sparkly whenever she got loud and commanding.

Virgil just didn't get it.

His father kept saying 'this is one of the most important days in Sharon's life and she deserves to have it anyway she wants.' and it wasn't that he didn't think his sister deserved the best. He just didn't want to have to break up any more 'bride fights' or be on the receiving end of Sharon's left hook ever again. He'd met Meta-humans who didn't hit as hard.

Jacob smiled faintly. "Could be worse: he could be neurotic too. My mom once catered a wedding where the groom was both about to fall off the deep end if everything wasn't just so. There is nothing worse than a man in a tux sobbing because the crab rolls aren't all uniform."

"I shudder to think."

Jacob nodded sagely. "As you should."

Richie started to say something but…didn't. Rather his gaze slide from Virgil to some point behind him. Virgil turned and was met with the sight of a few guys from their school heading their way. He turned back and arched an eyebrow at Richie who was making a fantastic show of slowly sliding down in his chair.

Jacob glanced down at the other blond before turning his attention back to his drink.

Virgil just shook his head. Honestly, who made a scene in the mall? That was kind of…childish, even by his standards.

Jacob reached over, grabbing Richie by the arm, and hauled him so he was sitting straight up. Richie looked scandalized but Jacob was still watching his straw intently so it went without notice.

Virgil frowned, considering. How many guys could he take out sans powers anyway? One or two, yeah, but five… He wasn't Robin or anything, he didn't have years of martial arts training under the most anal retentive man in the world backing him up. He was just used to fighting super-powered people and probably had a much higher pain tolerance.

It was funny how the body numbed itself to pain after a while.

"Hey Foley, out on a date with your boyfriend?"

Virgil blinked once then looked over at Richie who was blushing darkly. It was these kind of idiots? Why was it that no one had better things to do than mess with those they thought was different?

Another one, the biggest by far, spoke next. All five had the same taunting 'aren't I a tough guy even though I pick on guys who weigh maybe half of what I do' grins on their faces. Or at least that's how Virgil interpreted them. He could have been wrong.

"I always thought you were with Hawkins but this guy-" a nod towards Jacob who was still scribbling away. "Looks more your speed. I bet he even lets you on top sometimes."

"Are you asking because you want to watch?" Virgil asked, mind working independently of his brain. It did that when people got in his face, a throw back from his 'smartass' days. Though some might say he was still a smartass…Richie and Sharon mostly. "Did your mom find out you were downloading gay porn and make you give back her credit card?"

If Virgil knew one thing about bullies it was that they hated being called gay. Probably hated it more than they professed to hate gay people. He wasn't surprised when the guy swung. He reached out to grab his arm before either Richie or Jacob could be hit.

Two things happened at once. Jacob's drink, dark red and more juice than ice hit the floor and formed a puddle as Jacob grabbed Richie's arm and yanked them both to the side. The overhead glass shattered and shards came raining down onto them.

He stopped, confused. The bully, having nothing to hit, over swung then slipped in the puddle. It could have stopped there, since he grabbed the table to steady himself. But the table broke. Just…collapsed. It'd seemed sturdy enough a moment ago. The bully fell with it and everything hit the ground.

Hard.

No one really noticed. Everyone was a little bit busy watching the giant storm cloud with eyes fall through the skylight and start hurling lighting and ice balls at everyone. There was an almost eerie silence followed by screaming and running.

The bully on the floor stayed put. Virgil had to resist the sudden urge to kick him in the ribs and instead stared at the cloud. That was a new one.

Then Richie coughed. "We should…go."

Virgil nodded his agreement. Jacob looked a little bit startled but grabbed some of the bags and followed nonetheless. The bathroom seemed like the best place to beat it to so they headed in that general direction.

"You did that didn't you?" Richie demanded over his shoulder.

"Yes. It went surprisingly well. I was sure he was going to crack his skull open and start bleeding everywhere. I hate blood."

"You can't just…that's…oh my god." Virgil wasn't even sure what to say. They were at the bathroom now and Jacob came to a halt and smiled wryly. "You can't do that kind of thing. We don't actually hurt people for being assholes."

"I can't very well guarantee positive outcomes, my whole 'power' is about negative things. If you want positive I have to act after seeing that's always iffy." He squinted at him for a moment. "Besides 'Do you want to watch'? I mean…why?

"Virgil has a problem thinking things through." Richie muttered. "So. We're going to save the day, all cool and dramatic like. You're-"

"Going to see if I can get another icy." He smiled brightly. "It was really good."

Virgil blinked. "Right." He wasn't even going to think about how strange and wrong that was.

0000000000000000

Static wasn't sure what he was expecting as he navigated his way over the heads of terrified people and through the ropes holding up the giant 'spring themed' balloons. To come face to…face with a giant cloud that knew his name wasn't it.

The cloud had spread out over most of the food court and, though it was nearly translucent now, was doing a lot of damage. A mixture of lightening, hail, and sleet was beating down on everything

"Static." The voice sounded like rain, if that made any sense. "Gear. Nice of you to come and see me."

Gear glanced at him and shrugged. He didn't recognize the voice either. "Have we met?"

The cloud sniffled in faux hurt. "You boys don't remember me? Maybe because of the change." As it spoke the cloud seemed to come together, forming a body. A very female, curvy body. Still the features were very…well cloudy. They shifted with the air, unable to just stay in one place for any length of time and it was thusly impossible to try and identify her.

She sighed. "I'm shocked Static. After all, the first time we met you turned me into a rain cloud."

That sparked a memory, pun not intended. Maybe because Richie had yelled at him when he'd retold the story, claiming that he could have killed the other Meta-human with that kind of stunt. What if a breeze had blown and some of her body got away? How would he have felt then?

Richie had been right of course, turning someone's body into steam was probably not the best idea he'd ever had.

"Aquamaria?" He muttered, blinking.

She threw her head back and laughed and he was reminded of thunder, harsh and booming. Then she stared at him, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"No Static, I go by Stormy now." Virgil had to bite his tongue to keep from calling her on copyright infringement. She smirked in a misty kind of way then raised her hands up above her head. "Allow me to demonstrate."

A gust of icy wind swept up from seemingly nowhere and slammed into Static. He hadn't been expecting it and was almost thrown from the disk. The wind only got stronger and it was a matter of moments before his entire arm had a coating of ice.

Since being half-frozen had never solved a damn thing he dodged away from the wind and went behind one of the support beams on the first floor. He flexed his fingers and arm, cracking the ice, and looked around. Where was Gear?

"What's this? Big bad boys running away from me?" Static watched her in the glass of one of the windows. She was still hovering but her form seemed to be coming unraveled, becoming that of a cloud again. "It's your fault I'm like this! I at least deserve a fair fight!"

Static rolled his eyes. How was it that he always ended up being blamed for everything that went wrong with people around here? Had they never heard of personal responsibility?

Still, he wondered what had happened to her. Last he'd heard she'd been moved to an out-of-state juvenile prison at the request of her parents, something about a crazy boyfriend, after receiving the cure. None of which explained her very cloudy presence in the mall. She'd been cured, he'd seen it…hell, he'd nearly drowned in it before it had happened.

If she was changing back then…

He judged the distance between the column he was behind and the next while folding his disk. Ten feet give or take. He formed a ball of electricity then darted from behind the column to throw it. His aim held as true as it usually did but, as he scrambled behind the next support, he saw her more or less absorb it.

Then she held out a hand in his general direction. Lightening shot from her finger tips and he frowned. What the hell was she thinking, that wasn't going to do anything. At least he didn't think it was. He usually got stronger during storms but who was to say that would hold true in this case?

He found out soon enough when the bolt punched through the column, destroying a good chunk of it and sending cement and plaster raining down on his head. He shook his head, more annoyed than anything. It was going to take more than one support beam to do damage to the mall after all.

His shock vox crackled in his pocket and he pulled it out in time to hear Gear's voice, laced with annoyance.

"Bro', I think we have a problem." Static was inclined to agree. "I was going to try and pull her up through the ventilation system and maybe contain her on the roof but-"

"The ventilation system is out." Static finished, groaning. He remembered, dimly, hearing about it on the news. Something about a strange odor and them taking everything down panel by panel to seek it out.

"Exactly. I can override the system to turn it on but it'd be pointless. There's no power to it."

"Can I-"

His words were lost when another bolt of lightening sliced through the rest of the column. He groaned and shoved the vox back into his pocket before running for the next column.

He needed a plan. Or at least to know where the power was, he would have settled for that.

00000000000000

Jacob wasn't exactly an overly selfless guy. He imagined he'd be a piss-poor hero because he didn't really want to risk his life trying to save others if he wasn't guaranteed to survive. He didn't get how Richie and Virgil could become Gear and Static then race off to fight some creepy cloud chick.

Being a superhero must mean you had no sense of self-preservation and Jacob _existed_ because of his sense of self-preservation. He didn't have a whole lot else going for him, sadly.

Still he was crouched at the side of an escalator and considering the power box there. How had he known where to find it? He'd stumbled upon it while running away. It seemed very unlikely to just…notice a small panel in the escalator, unmarked and made of the same glossy metal as the machine with nothing except paper thin gaps between the panel and the rest of it.

But that was what Jacob was all about so he decided to go with it.

He found that when he touched it the lock popped itself.

It was all rather strange; his power didn't actually have a 'happy' active side, like he'd told Virgil. He saw all sorts of stuff but could only 'nudge' bad outcomes. Anything good he had to go out and do himself, which was a real pain in the ass.

He wasn't even sure why he was over here actually. He just…had a feeling. He had to do something to…do something. Sadly his brain didn't come with super intelligence or even a decent vocabulary.

Now the difficult part. He didn't just…know shit like Gear…or, well, he did in away but not really in such a competent way; he saw and he could effect but he didn't _understand_. He certainly couldn't shock it like Static. So. When in doubt and dealing with electronic things…

Right. He reached out and yanked some of the wires out of their places then frowned, head tilting slightly. His vision went hazy for a moment and closed his eyes against the growing darkness (1). He reached out again, yanking and twisting and pushing, focusing on the worst possible scenario and willing it to be, and knowing when he felt the current jump into his skin and go racing for his heart that he had it.

And then he died.

000000000000

Gear blinked, startled, when the power to the food court, bathrooms, and a fourth of the stores on the first floor went out. Only to have the power to the vents come on.

At a loss for what else he could do he flicked the switch to turn the vents on, having hacked past the security system the moment he entered the security office. He'd left the fight, almost certain that nothing he was carrying could fight a cloud, and gone for the behind the scenes approach. He kind of reminded himself of Oracle. Only less…female and able to break up super-teams with a single look.

At least he didn't think he could do any of that.

Anyway.

Now all Static had to do was get her near one of the vents. He could set up the flow of air so that she came out on the roof after traveling through the entire system. She'd probably have such a hard time keeping herself together that she'd be too tired to do much of anything except try to keep from scattering and floating into a million different directions.

Hopefully.

There was a slight chance she wouldn't be able to hold herself together inside the vents and her entire form would be stretched and dissipate then emerge at random points throughout and outside of the mall. He wasn't sure if she'd be able to pull herself together after such an occurrence or how long it would take her to do so.

But, considering the power she was displaying fighting Static, he didn't see that happening. She'd have to lose all control over herself and he didn't see that happening.

He stood, indicating that Backpack should follow him, and headed for the stairs he knew lead to the roof. He wasn't sure if it would work but he already had an idea of how to contain her while waiting for Meta Human Containment to come along.

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1) I totally meant that the way it sounds.

You know what? I suck at being subtle. Heh.


End file.
